


Clair of Cybertron

by Rangerfan58



Series: Cybertronian foster child [15]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, メタルヒーローシリーズ | Metal Hero Series
Genre: Prowl/Jazz-family bond after certain point
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-12-02 21:49:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 58
Words: 162,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11518173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rangerfan58/pseuds/Rangerfan58
Summary: For one part of the story it might be considered AU for reasons that will hopefully be obvious pretty quickly. Flashback will happen pretty early in the story because it is needed for backstory and the personality that people see isn't the true personality for a character, however the reasons behind their personality will be revealed as the story happens, but that should also be relatively early. Oh and while I will be using the Japanese form for the characters who are Japanese other characters will be said in the American way. Plus one of the characters is supposed to have an accent, kind of like we have a southern accent and a northern accent in America, that will not be happening because since I don't actually speak Japanese I won't properly be able to do accents when they start actually talking. And in a few sections there are made up medical terms, There's an issue that isn't as prevalent in one location as it will be in another depending on how the story goes, the reasons why will be explained in story as will the condition itself when it comes time for that. And later Korea is going to be involved, in my story the war did happen but with the help of the Cybertronians the two countries slowly reunited into one and things are good, but in the first part you will notice I separated them, that's because on the map they are still labeled as North and South Korea and due to the fact that they were separate countries for a long time people do still refer to Korea as North and South Korea depending on which part of the country they are in at times





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For one part of the story it might be considered AU for reasons that will hopefully be obvious pretty quickly. Flashback will happen pretty early in the story because it is needed for backstory and the personality that people see isn't the true personality for a character, however the reasons behind their personality will be revealed as the story happens, but that should also be relatively early. Oh and while I will be using the Japanese form for the characters who are Japanese other characters will be said in the American way. Plus one of the characters is supposed to have an accent, kind of like we have a southern accent and a northern accent in America, that will not be happening because since I don't actually speak Japanese I won't properly be able to do accents when they start actually talking. And in a few sections there are made up medical terms, There's an issue that isn't as prevalent in one location as it will be in another depending on how the story goes, the reasons why will be explained in story as will the condition itself when it comes time for that. And later Korea is going to be involved, in my story the war did happen but with the help of the Cybertronians the two countries slowly reunited into one and things are good, but in the first part you will notice I separated them, that's because on the map they are still labeled as North and South Korea and due to the fact that they were separate countries for a long time people do still refer to Korea as North and South Korea depending on which part of the country they are in at times

Clair was simply standing against a wall with her arms crossed across her chest and one leg up against the wall having her knee bent while listening to the leader of the gang she was part of

"Now then everyone will have to follow Clair's directions this time since she's the leader of the mission per my agreement with her in regards to the last mission. You are to attack gas stations and other buildings, the rescue personnel that come to handle the emergency are not to be attacked this time per Kerenai's plan. Why is that anyways Clair?"

"Easy sir, you do not want a pattern established, especially with this attack happening so close to the last one in South Korea, police officers do talk to each other you know, even if they are from different countries, eventually that is"

"And if we start establishing a pattern our ultimate goal could be stopped before we even began to actually make progress towards it"

"Exactly sir, thus why my plan involves massive damage while at the same time not touching rescue personnel...wait there is one exception to the no attack rule I placed on you guys, at the last place we attacked I thought I saw robotic sharks and five faced monsters. If you see them you are allowed to attack them"

"Be careful of the EDC then if that's the case, I have heard that Quintesson activity has been on the rise lately, what you saw were probably a Quintesson and Sharkticons on a scouting mission, but I can't be too sure of that since I aim to cause trouble too"

"We attack tomorrow by the way"

"Understood, that means everyone gets a good nights sleep tonight, is that understood?"

"Yes sir"

Everyone started preparing for the mission the next day and when she was sure she had private time Clair took out a locket from underneath her clothes and opened it to look at the picture inside the locket. Clair hadn't looked inside the locket for eight months after a close call one day shortly before the group went to South Korea. Everyone knew the locket was important to her and she still regularly made sure that the locket was actually still with her, but at the most she simply pulled the locket out to make sure that it was indeed the locket she had carried with her for over ten years, seven of those with the group she was currently with. The locket held a picture of her family, family that was in stasis due to how much danger they were currently in. Clair was known publicly as Clair Kerenai, but another lesser well known name that country governments knew her as was Clair of Cybertron and it was part of her Cybertronian family that was in stasis due to the threat put on them seven years earlier by the previous leader of the group


	2. Chapter 2

_Seven years earlier_

"Clair, have you finished underneath the computer yet?"

"Sorry Red Alert, there's some frayed wires I need to take care of, and the last time I rushed a job Wheeljack, Perceptor, Shockwave and Starscream all yelled at me since I risked serious injury to myself and others by rushing"

"Fine, by the way, the project you worked on recently helped local police"

"Oh?"

"Yep, a Mongolian visiting for vacation witnessed an accident and unfortunately there weren't any translators available to help take his statement, as such he spoke into a voice recorder and through your translator the police were able to take his statement and able to ask questions. Took about six hours overall but six hours is better than two days of waiting for a translator"

"That's good news, tell them I will work on any speed issues soon, but first I need to take care of a minor problem else where's"

"Okay we'll let them know tomorrow during our monthly meeting"

"Right"

Clair finally came out from under the computer and then called her family to the main meeting room so as to explain a few things about upgrades she had personally made while dealing with frayed wires. But as soon as she pressed a button a flash of light went out from the computer and she was soon told everyone had successfully been put into stasis

(Thinks) " _I'm sorry everyone, but if I don't put you in stasis you'll be in severe danger while several_ _EDC bases around the globe will be in danger as well, though not as much as you being my family_ "

Clair quickly leaves the base knowing that EDC officers would soon come after getting an alert and as such she fled the base and met the group that had forced her to leave her family in less danger than before but with many, many questions

"Is it done?"

"Yes, it's done, can we go before we're discovered?"

"Very well"

And so Clair began her life on the run at only age ten with no one knowing the truth

_Present_

(Thinks) " _It's been seven years since that day and I still can't go home, hopefully I will be able to soon_ _since I am now making plans to take them down with the help of Winspector but it isn't yet time for_ _those plans to be implemented, but soon, soon I will be able to reveal all to my family and wake up the_ _members that have been in stasis for seven years. And even if I personally can't do it the two_ _microchips with answers and codes will do it for me_ "

Kelsey quickly closes the locket and puts it back underneath her clothes and then goes to sleep knowing it was needed for the next day. The next day her plan went off without a hitch and when back at base that's when the leader made the sudden announcement that while the group wasn't going to be retiring any time soon they would now have an actual base of operations from where they would plan everything, even if it involved another country and that base was in Japan. She also finally learned that the group was ultimately going to work up towards a missile attack on multiple countries at once with three of those missiles being nuclear

"Russia and America are two of the definite countries but I don't know about the third one yet, and it's going to take a few months before we even reach that point"

"Sir I have heard of a police group known as Winspector that operates in Japan, how are we to avoid them?"

"We may not towards the end but for now keep your movements in Japan small and not worthy of attention, and also be careful about how often you leave the country for individual assignments, if you feel I am sending you out too much let me know and I will keep you in country for a bit so that you don't start raising questions about your trips. Kerenai you will be in Japan the most but you will also be sent out on occasion as well so as to protect everyone else going on missions, but you will still have plenty of targets to attack on occasion"

"Fine by me"

"Okay then, now it's time to start the operation that began with the previous leader"

The group starts the attacks and slowly builds up to more and more damage with severe loss of life and rescue personnel targeted more often. During all of this Clair kept up her mask that she had developed for seven years in deep cover. She acted cold and uncaring about everything that didn't involve the mission, she was not quite a jerk but very bossy when it came to her plans and she didn't let anyone befriend her, even the group were more acquaintances then friends. But that was shielding the young child hiding inside her, the kid who was forced to grow up so fast and away from her family. She was basically still a young kid with the childlike hope that she would be discovered by the police and she could finally come home and be her true self, though sometimes she wondered what her true self even was anymore since she had been forced to be another person for seven long years to protect her family. Finally though Clair learned that the ultimate attacks would be happening within the next two months and that's when she finally put her own plans into action. During one of the days that everyone could do their own thing Clair went to the post office and gave the person a box, the box contained her locket, the one that had been her anchor for the past seven years and a letter inside for Winspector with specific instructions. This was only after she had made sure that the two microchips were still safely secured within the locket and were up to date on everything that needed to be current for several groups

*We have a letter guys*

*Who from?*

*No idea, but there's something inside for us to safe keep*

*Then let's read the letter and find out what the object is and what we're supposed to do with it*

They read the letter and discover that the object was a locket and it wasn't to be opened until a certain time period had passed without word from the mysterious person. They also discovered very specific instructions about how they were supposed to contact people in the event that contact was never made or suddenly lost between Winspector and the person, even though contact was very one sided the letters would insure that Winspector knew the person was still alive

*Why would they want us to contact the EDC if we either never make or suddenly lose contact with them?*

*Who knows, but I get the feeling that if we don't follow instructions there could potentially be major trouble*

*Is the letter even signed?*

*Yes, and it's mentioned that this will be the signature we will see on every letter we receive from them so that we know it's actually them*

*What's the signature then?*

*A flag with an x under it*

*That's confusing*

*But unique enough for us to recognize it as this person at need*

*True enough, check letters for the symbol from now on if there's no known address?*

*Exactly*

*Did they say we are allowed to look inside the locket before hand or not?*

*It specifies that the locket it to be closed until otherwise stated in this letter*

*But why?*

*That we don't know, but we also know we have to follow instructions*

*True enough, so safe?*

*Safe*

*Okay then let's do it*

And so they put the locket in a specially designed safe until it was time to open the locket per their instructions. Meanwhile Clair was doing what she could to stop the missile attacks even if she couldn't bring down the gang not knowing she would ultimately wind up in the safety of the police soon enough, but only after being temporarily in their custody (technically for the police anyways due to circumstances) for questioning due to fingerprints

"Clair, your turn for shopping"

"Fine, how are the people on international missions?"

"All missions done and everyone returning home, however I do have to tell you that four of them are no longer allowed international missions"

"What for?"

"Three of them are returning home with injuries that prevent any further missions and the other one got into enough trouble that isn't legal but still trouble that I am deeming them a danger to themselves and missions until I see proof that they aren't a walking trouble magnet"

"Do I even want to know?"

"No you don't"

"Okay then"

Clair goes to buy groceries but on the way back sees a building up in flames and also sees the perpetrators being taken into custody, but the building was heading towards collapse faster than predicted and as such Clair made up her mind, it was time to go home and take the group down from the outside instead of inside the group as such she dropped the groceries and got as close as she could to the site and then with one knee and both hands on the ground she mentally forms visible support beams, and was quickly noticed by the Winspector commander Masaki and as such Masaki quickly went over to the person hoping to get answers


	3. Chapter 3

*Miss what are you doing?*

*Giving...support...tell them...to hurry...can't hold out...much...longer...*

Masaki notices that the civilians at the least are all safe and let's her know that

*All civilians are safe*

*What...about...rescue...personnel?*

Masaki quickly gets an update and finds that two firefighters plus Bikel one of his own people were still inside doing a quick check of the basement in case of unknown stragglers

*Three are still inside*

*Get...them...out...of...there...fast*

Fortunately a minute later all three were out

*Okay everyone including rescue personnel are out*

*Good*

With that the person collapses sideways but because Masaki was there to witness their exhaustion he simply caught the person and insisted they be taken to the police hospital since they did help rescue his men and the lives of several firefighters as well having supported the whole building by themselves. Once at the hospital they checked fingerprints and did a facial scan and that's when they discovered her identity via MADDOX

*MADDOX can you identify this person?*

*Clair Kerenai 17 years old, wanted by the EDC for seven years for questioning. All other information about her classified*

*Commander, maybe we should contact the EDC and let them know we have her, they might be willing to answer questions we have if we explain why we're asking*

*Good point Ryoma, that's what we'll do*

And so an EDC officer is called and quickly confirms that they had been looking for Clair for seven years after being told she was in police custody in the hospital

*For some reason though she's still unconscious*

*What caused her to be unconscious in the first place and what type of drip are you using on her?*

*She somehow created support beams to support a building so that we could evacuate it, and kept those beams up until everyone was safely out, and we're using normal saline drip since the main problem according to the doctors is dehydration*

*You need a high energy drip, I will explain the beams later, but just know that she actually needs the high energy drip to help her, now then it will not make her completely better for several hours, but she should wake up enough to hopefully answer some questions in fifteen minutes, but not many and she will go right back to sleep since the drip takes time to be fully effective, but just five minutes will give us answers we need hopefully*

Fifteen minutes after the new drip was started Clair woke up and saw the EDC officer and immediately knew what was going on and as such spoke up without being asked questions (they would discover later that she thought she was hallucinating, but at the same time responded like normal due to training)

"Full answers...later...Winspector...locket...microchips...with answers...tell them identification is...flag...with...x...below"

Kelsey then went back to sleep having used up all her energy while the officer left the room to talk to the officers outside

*So I have a very confusing answer from her, she said that a group known as Winspector has a locket, and that locket has microchips with answers on them, I'm thinking Winspector is part of the police somehow but I don't know that for sure*

*They are, we are the group known as Winspector, but how do they know about the locket?*

*They also said something about a flag with an x below*

*That's...that's her, that's the symbol we were to look for whenever we received letters from them, so Kerenai's the one who sent that letter and locket*

*Wait you have the locket?*

*Yes, it's in a special safe*

*Then let's go get it and hopefully some answers as well*

The group heads to Winspector headquarters and puts the microchip that was labeled to read first into the special translator unit that Clair had developed when she was only nine years old due to the instructions that had been in the original letter

*Hey guys, hopefully a representative of the EDC is there as well. Winspector this is Clair Kerenai if an EDC representative is not there pause this tape and get them there now because I have answers for them on this tape. EDC if you remember seven years ago you found some of my family in stasis and they've been that ways ever since, and you also probably suspect me of doing that since I was the last known person with them. You would be correct in that regards but I did it to save their lives, just like I am doing what I have been doing for the past seven years to save everyone I can. You see a few days before I suddenly disappeared I was approached by the leader of a terrorist group who knew I was raised in the EDC, though I don't think they knew the full or real truth about who raised me, and yes you can explain everything to Winspector since I am giving them emergency clearance so that they may help you guys out. They said that they would kill my immediate family members if I didn't join, they also said that they had missiles planted around the globe near strategic EDC bases to do massive damage and death to the rest of the EDC if I didn't join them. There is evidence of my coercion by the way, but obviously I joined the group to keep everyone safe. For the past seven years I have slowly been taking them down, but have not been very effective on my own. Still I have stopped several major plots since I joined but this time I need help. The group is planning nuclear attacks soon on America, Russia and China with other non nuclear missiles to hit England, Canada, Australia and Libya. If I am killed or otherwise unable to stop those attacks you and Winspector will have to stop them with the information contained on this microchip. The other microchip will be needed to wake up those in stasis, and it will have the important information that they have been missing for the past seven years, even telling them how long they have been in stasis. Well this is Clair Kerenai signing off and wishing you good luck in your mission, I hope to see you guys again soon EDC, bye*

Winspector and the EDC representative just stared at the translator and then quickly got to work with the information left on the microchip that would ultimately bring the group down before they did their big attack. Clair would not be awake for the mission due to the fact that it turned out she had developed pneumonia from a swim shortly before she saved all those lives and used her powers and as such the hospital was keeping her under sedation for a few days while she was given strong antibiotics and was intubated to help her breathing, but since they figured she would fight the breathing tube they kept her sedated so that the breathing tube could do it's job without trouble

*How long did the doctors say they were keeping her sedated again?*

*At least another two days, when are you going to bring her family out of stasis?*

*Once she wakes up and can see the chip working for herself, you see she isn't sure if the chip will work properly and as such we need her awake to make any adjustments needed herself*

*Why do I get the feeling that's only partly true?*

The EDC officer waits until they were sure the group was alone

*Because that's only the public explanation, the true reason isn't just so that she can handle any problems that might arise, but also so that she can see that her plan was worth what she went through. You see we told what family was awake the truth about why she had done what she had and they think she needs reassurance that her plan was the best plan available considering everything against her at the time. She needs to see that her family will wake up and not blame her for protecting them all these long years*

*Speaking of, why haven't you explained her family in full like she said you could, all we know is that her birth parents were EDC officers who died when she was just a month old and that the adoption with her new family was because of her birth parents will*

*Because of the fact that you can ask her questions at need if she's awake, by the way I don't get why you don't have your suspicions considering the way we phrase things in regards to her adoptive family*

*Oh we have our suspicions alright, but we can't and won't say anything until she's awake and we're in a secure location should our suspicions be correct. After all not everyone in the police force will be cleared to know the truth about her depending on if our suspicions are right*

*Fine, you understand how she kept the building up now?*

*Yes, and we're surprised that information isn't classified as well*

*Oh it's classified alright, but the level of classification varies depending on several factors*

*Why does it have levels of classification?*

*You'll understand when she wake up*

*Fine, wish she was awake now so that we can tell her the mission is over and she can go home*

*Not quite commander, we think it best she stays with you guys for a bit before returning home. We think...we think she might need time with you guys to start becoming her true self. If what we suspect is correct and she's been hiding behind a persona for seven years then she needs time with people she will deem safe to come out of her shell, and we highly suspect she's just a young kid still emotionally speaking and that means she will really, really need someone to stay with that can help her, and as police officers who she made contact with deliberately that means she has deemed you as safe and someone she can go to in times of trouble*

*Fine, so two more days of sedation?*

*According to the doctor's anyways, but that might change depending on how she's doing during her daily check today*

*Let's hope she wakes up soon, because she probably needs to see her family as much as her family needs to see her*

*No kidding, you do not want to know what happened when her family found out why she had done what she had done*

*By the way, what language was she speaking that required the special translator unit?*

*Um...that will be explained when she's awake as well since it involves her family and you insist on waiting until she wakes up to hear more about them*

*Fine*

They wait to hear from the doctor on how Clair was doing and discover that sedation was ending and Clair was being allowed to wake up, plus the breathing tube was gone as well since the doctors finally felt her lungs were strong enough to handle breathing on their own

*Now then she might still be tired and not truly regain consciousness until tomorrow but she will wake up some time today*

*Basically she's going to be in and out of it, conscious one moment and dozing off the next while the sedatives work their way out of her system*

*Basically yes*

*Okay good to know, can one of us stay with her while the sedatives work their way out of her system, I know it's not usual but it is needed for reasons I can't explain*

*Fine, however I am putting restrictions and rules to allow you to stay with her while the sedatives work their way out of her system. If she starts showing signs of distress you are to alert a medical staff member immediately, no more than three hours by her bed at any time and if you stay that long you will be forced to stay away for at least one full hour, preferably longer though, and only one person at a time otherwise both will be forced out of the room for the full hour and no one will be by her side during that hour*

*Fine we agree to the rules, however do understand that if she suddenly wakes up and does something we deem dangerous to her health we are acting before medical personnel arrive*

*Fine that's allowed since I know you guys are trained to handle suddenly active patients. And yes Masaki I remember that one patient who suddenly woke up and thought they were still being chased by someone and almost went out the window if not for...Bikel I believe the robot was called*

*And you train EDC personnel personally for such scenario's so you know my training*

*Exactly*


	4. Chapter 4

Masaki and the EDC officer quickly worked out a rotation schedule, however the EDC officer had forgotten something very, very critical about Clair. Due to her family situation she had been trained to handle herself from a young age, she had also been given training to handle sedatives. If she knew she was in a hospital she was cooperative about taking sedatives and allowing them to work properly, she even knew better than to try and fight the sedatives whenever she felt the sedatives weakening thus allowing her to wake up. The problem was she didn't know she was in a hospital with friendlies, she thought she was possibly back with the group that had been her own supposed friends for the past seven years, she did remember rescuing everyone and also remembered talking to a police officer, however she also thought that the group had attacked the transport on the way and she was back in the clutches of the terrorists and that they had figured out what she had done and as such were keeping her sedated so that she couldn't do anything else. The reason she didn't remember briefly waking up and talking to the EDC officer was because she could tell she had been very sick, and her fever had actually started when she first woke up, as such she thought she had dreamed talking to the EDC officer. Thus when she started waking up she used the training she had been given to fight off the after affects of the sedatives relatively quickly only an hour after sedation was finally completely stopped. She then pretended to still be asleep so that she could gather intel and find out just where she was and make her escape plans from there. Now because of who had raised her Clair knew several languages from age eight, naturally she knew English and Cybertronian with those two being deemed her native languages, at age five she realized that her family was essentially international in regards to bases and as such she took it upon herself to learn several more languages. By the time she was ten and was forced to leave the safety of her home she knew Russian, Japanese, Canadian French, Spanish, Portuguese and American Sign Language. While traveling abroad she had managed to learn Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean since she had a knack for learning languages. The problem was since she had been drugged and wasn't sure where she was she didn't know which language to listen for, plus drugs had the ability to make her forget everything but English and Cybertronian in regards to known languages, which ultimately made her more tense before her foggy brain remembered what languages she knew when she first heard voices clearly again

*How long did the doctor say she would be pretty much out of it?*

*Several more hours according to him*

*Right, shift change*

*Okay, see you in two hours, I need to get back to base to make a basic report plus my boss said if I don't take a full lunch hour they are going to be forced to take measures to ensure I take longer than fifteen minutes for my lunch break*

*Go I have it covered here, Ryoma will take the next shift so if I'm not here look for him*

*Got it*

(Think) " _OK I need to know where I am and how to escape...wait they're talking in Japanese which_ _means I might actually be in a safe location and not with the group, well there's only one way to find_ _out for sure_ "

Clair opens her eyes and moves her head towards where she heard talking and looks to see an EDC uniform and what looked like a police uniform, but since the two people were still talking they didn't immediately notice her and as such she gained valuable intel right away

*By the way Commander Masaki, alert us immediately if she wakes up*

*Of course and it's just Masaki okay *

Clair decides to speak for herself

*Or I could just tell you I'm awake officers*

The two immediately look to the bed to see Clair pretty awake for someone who was still getting sedatives out of their system

*Clair...the doctor's said you would still be out of it*

*Think officer, my family gave me special training, and since I only just woke up and didn't know if I was with friendlies I used that training*

*Fine, by the way, family doesn't blame you, we need you to ensure the chip is working and the person next to me is the commander of Winspector*

*Good to know about the person next to you, but I don't believe you about my family*

*It's the truth Clair*

*Officer, I lived with robots my whole life, the Cybertronians raised me since I was a little kid, and while they may be a lot of things they are not very forgiving with traitors and that's exactly what I did when I put some of them into stasis. I betrayed my family officer, I highly doubt they're too happy with me right now*

(Sighs) *I thought you might have to hear it for yourself but I decided to give it a try anyways, once you are cleared by the doctor we are waking up your family in stasis and they can tell you themselves what they think about what you did seven years ago*

*So our suspicions were correct about her family*

*Yes they were Masaki, she will tell you the full story...later, you still need rest Kerenai, you used up way too much energy saving everyone from that collapsing building*

*I know and understand, now that I know I am safe I am going back to sleep*

With that Clair does indeed go back to sleep and actually let's what's left of the sedatives leave her body naturally with the knowledge she's in a safe place for the first time in seven long years

*Well she's going to be out sooner than the doctors predicted, now that she's awake and alert for the most part she's only going to remain here for a day or two*

*Oh?*

*Yep, I'd say she shook off about 2/3rds of the sedatives in her body, the remainders will leave her system during her current nap, though admittedly she's probably going to remain asleep for a bit now that she knows she's in a safe place. Once she's fully awake she will most likely give you the full story about her family and once she's released she can wake up her family with the chip and they can tell her themselves they don't blame her for protecting them. Actually...they mentioned initial confusion with sudden realization that she wouldn't have done what she did if she didn't think it was needed, as such her family always trusted her but they never found out why she had done what she had*

*And now they have their answers*

*Exactly, but the next few days are going to be interesting to say the least, because I get the feeling she's going to revert back to basically being a kid*

*This is going to take time isn't it?*

*Oh yeah, by the way we have an offer for you*

*Oh?*

*Well, remember when we intervened with Interpol on your behalf?*

*Yes, it allowed us to stay in Japan*

*We think they had a good idea, however we have a different plan in mind, instead of being away from Japan the entire time you spend half your time in Japan and the other half in America, with the first year solely in Japan*

*Oh?*

*Yep, I get the feeling that her family is going to entrust her safety to you guys and she's going to need the stability of being here for a year will provide*

*I'll think about it and give you an answer later*

*That's fine by us, we know you need time to come to terms with our request*


	5. Chapter 5

The next day Clair was allowed to leave the hospital and that's when everyone got their first taste into Clair's true personality or at least her current true personality, because everyone in Winspector and the EDC had known from the start that her true personality was one that would form over time now that she was safe and free. The terrorist group she had been forced to be part of hadn't realized it but Clair was just a scared ten year old girl doing her best to protect her family like she knew her family would protect her. She had developed a cold, uncaring and tough persona for the group but she wasn't a cold, uncaring person at all. She cared for Earth enough to sacrifice her freedom or her life it came down to it, and she was also not very trusting of anyone who didn't have authority, meaning if they weren't fire, police or medical personnel she wasn't going to automatically trust them and even then her trust was very, very carefully picked in regards to the police. She ultimately trusted Federal police groups the most, then it went to State and finally local for America. For the rest of the world she trusted the military if there wasn't actual police, then any police that was well recognized like Scotland Yard for Great Britain, any federal police and then local police. For Japan she trusted Winspector the most since she had heard stories about them and then the local police. And for local police she only really trusted them to properly identify her and make sure she gets to a safe location, and that was because she had seen the terrorists bribe or threaten local police into doing what they wanted while the federal police of any country wasn't touched. As such as soon as she stepped outside the hospital she immediately froze at the sight of many local officers, not seeing any Winspector or EDC officers. Just before she started backing up into the hospital again though Masaki came into her eyesight and she immediately relaxed and went towards him

*Get me to less people please*

*Will do, should have thought everyone would overwhelm you*

And that was actually the crux of the matter, she trusted the local police wouldn't hurt her, but there were also too many people there to greet her for her first day out of the hospital and into a new world of freedom and she was overwhelmed and scared that some of the group might have infiltrated the police in order to kill her, not knowing that the group had been taken down while she was in the hospital. The local police knew the basics of her story but didn't realize that since she had been forced to hide her true self for so long that she would be scared of several new faces all at once, plus they didn't even know how long she had been with the group, only that she had been forced to join several years earlier. Once she was at the station and in the headquarters of Winspector it took two hours for Clair to be calm enough that Masaki allowed the EDC representative come up to them, but the EDC representative had understood not being allowed to see him earlier when he had been told that Masaki had come up with a shaky civilian he mentioned he picked up from the hospital. The EDC as a whole knew better than most that Clair would be sensitive to over stimulation until further notice after they had been told the truth behind her apparent betrayal seven years earlier and as such were automatically more careful than the police officers about being around her too soon with too many people, even if she considered them friendlies

"Clair, it's good to see you, now then we do have a valid question, does the chip need to be inserted at the original base or can it be inserted any where's in the world and activated?"

"Original base only I'm afraid, it's a deliberate safety feature on my part in case the locket had been intercepted or stolen by those who would use the chip to wake up my family to be used for evil"

"Right...oops we forgot to speak in Japanese"

"I need to tell them my story anyways"

"Why haven't you yet?"

"It took me two hours to calm down from the hospital incident"

"Oh"

"Yeah, oh"

Clair then switched to Japanese asking if they wanted to hear her story now before she went back to America to wake up her family and for the next two hours told them everything they needed to know about her and her family, even explaining the microchip they had listened to was with her speaking Cybertronian

*I am planning on upgrading that translator though, in case I ever mix and match languages that ways I know it will all be one language for whoever has to listen to what I have to say, plus I think I need to make a video version of the translator as well, but I have to think on that first*

*So you need to go back to America to wake up your sleeping family?*

*Yes and face the consequences of what I did to them*

*What I don't get is why you made that safety feature in the first place if you trusted us enough to send the locket with the microchips to us*

*It's not you I don't trust, it was the terrorist group I didn't trust, there was always a chance they would discover the locket and try and use it against me and my family. Then there was the fact that I didn't know if the station wouldn't be attacked and the microchips taken as a result of an attack either*

*That's a good point*

*By the way Kerenai, did anyone tell you what happened to the group?*

*Yep, EDC did last night while I was eating dinner*

*Okay, still scared that they're going to come back for you?*

*Yes, I am, I was forced to join them when I was so young I...*

Clair starts crying silently and that's when the full situation truly hits everyone, they realized that Clair really was still actually a young kid both mentally and emotionally, but they also realized that she had been forced to act like she wasn't for so long that outside of the station where she was safe she probably wouldn't act like the young kid she was. They also realized that she needed help and as such would look into a psychologist or therapist to help her cope with what she had been through for the past seven years

"Clair, if you want we can get you a government exemption from school, have you not go back"

"No I want to see where I am at and then complete what education I am still lacking, it's not that doing things the easy way isn't appealing, trust me it's very appealing. But if I hadn't been forced to make the decisions I was forced to make I would still be in school now and quite gladly"

"Very well, but the tests aren't happening until you're more emotionally prepared to handle large crowds again"

"I know and understand"

Three days later Clair was back in America and more specifically the base she used to call home and inserted the chip and everyone waited to see if the Cybertronians would wake up and they did after several long moments

"Clair..."

"Guys, I'm so sorry for betraying you"

Prowl who was the leader of the base whenever the Primes and Galvatron weren't there went down to his knee and put his hand on the floor in invitation which Clair hesitantly took

"Clair, you did what you had to to save everyone, we don't blame you, and if anyone else in the EDC or the other Cybertronians do we will set them straight for as long as it takes for them to get the message"

"Actually, there's something Clair needs to see now that you yourself said you don't blame her"

The EDC officer puts a disk into the computer and the three leaders of the Cybertronians were seen

*Clair, this is Optimus Prime along with Rodimus Prime and Galvatron, we wanted you to know that we don't blame you for what you did, yes we were initially angry and confused but we quickly realized that you wouldn't have put any of your family in stasis unless there was a very good reason. When the EDC revealed that reason we were all the more glad that we trusted you, and worried about what these long seven years might have done to you in regards to your mental and emotional state, understand that we will always stand by you and support you. We also will be contacting the police group known as Winspector and let them know they are now your guardians while in Japan since we get the feeling that you trust them the most having sent the locket and microchips to them*

Clair starts crying again and this time it takes five hours for her to calm down, mainly because just when they thought she was calm again her family simply talked about life before she was forced to join the terrorists and it set her back emotionally again due to the fact that she was also remembering the same things with fondness but also fear that they wouldn't want her anymore. They also talked about what she went through during those seven years to protect them and that didn't do much for her healing either

*Clair...you know we don't blame you, you now have to find healing for yourself with Winspector, we'll keep in contact but...I think you need time away from us and the memories that you are being forced to remember with us talking*

*But I...*

*Clair, we're affecting you too much, we want you home so badly it hurts that we still have to be apart physically, but you need time to heal, you were forced to be a different person for seven years to protect us and that's affected you greatly*

*I just want to be with my family again after so lon *

*And you will be Clair, but only when you're ready, we'll actually be around because Barricade, Smokescreen and Soundwave with the cassettes are going back with you, but they will watch from afar at first until you are more comfortable around us again*

*Promise?*

*Yes I promise*

*Okay then I agree, but I better receive frequent letters*

*We'll make a schedule later*

The group heads back to the airport and they immediately see a shift in her persona, she went from a young kid again to someone who was used to travel, and they could see her making a threat assessment as well. Everyone knew that they would be seeing this for a while, she would be a kid one moment and a near adult who had to be cautious the next. The Winspector team having decided to go with as part of her support made a sudden realization

*We've just been volunteered for massive mood swings haven't we?*

*Yes, and I decided that we will be taking the EDC up on their offer now, and according to them for at least the first year Clair's with us we will be in Japan*

*She'll need the stability*

*So we're going through with this Commander?*

*Yes we are*

*Fine, just hope she doesn't bring out weapons while in the air like she almost did coming here*

*You have to admit though she had a valid reason for doing that*

*True, but still weapons aren't a good thing for her right now*

*Valid point, come on I hear our boarding call*

Fortunately the plan ride back to Japan was without incident, however the landing was an emergency landing due to a flock of geese managing to get into the engine just as they were reaching the airport, but though it was an emergency landing with one engine down the plane landed safely and no one was hurt

*So, police station?*

*Once everything is settled here yes, because I know for a fact that everyone needs to be accounted for first before we are allowed to leave*

Finally the group was at the station and started making true arrangements for Clair, because she had been staying with Ryoma for the few days before the plane ride but now they needed a more permanent solution and it was decided she would stay with Masaki until and if she ever moved out on her own

*What about the other officers?*

*They won't spread rumors and honestly the basics are actually known amongst police*

*What basics?*

*That you are an American citizen with circumstances that force you to remain in Japan until further notice, but as a minor in America you still need to live with someone until you become legal age, or until you decide you're ready to move out on your own due to said circumstances*

*Do they know the exact circumstances?*

*No they don't, that they are not allowed to know, all they know is that there are circumstances that you would rather keep private that's keeping you here*

Suddenly though alarms went off and Clair went underneath the nearby table and had her knees up against her body and her arms wrapped around her knees and was rocking herself and speaking in English, which they already knew was a stress response from the first day out of the hospital and the shooting range was accidentally too close at one point during a brief tour of the station so that she knew where everything was at need. If it wasn't English it was Cybertronian, but since she was just talking loud enough they knew enough English to recognize the language

"No, not now, I can't do this now"

The group started to react when suddenly though MADDOX alerted them to a major problem that would see a visible shift in Clair's persona

*The station is under attack*

They all looked at Clair thinking that would make the situation worse, but instead they visibly saw her shift from a scared child to someone who knew how to fight, and it scared them a little because her eyes were cold and harsh. When she came upon the attackers she formed two knives and had them in a reverse grip. The battle was quick but unfortunately the police officers were now in a new situation. Clair didn't recognize friend from foe because she didn't really know any police officer besides Winspector, as such she was in a protective mode that wasn't easy to get out of. Fortunately Winspector followed her and Bikel came into her view and easily had the other officers stand down

*Don't do anything, she's a scared person who thinks that the enemy has come back to her. I will get her to realize that she's safe though, just put away the weapons which should help. Clair you're in the police station and everything is fine now, the intruders were taken care of*

Bikel keeps talking and slowly the officers could tell that Clair was calming down. Finally the weapons mysteriously disappeared and Clair instantly ran to Bikel and hugged him while crying having reverted back to being a young child, scared and unsure of anything but the fact that she was with someone she had deemed safe

*Hey Bikel, is it just me or are you trying to comfort an emotionally unstable person*

*There's reasons they're like this, Clair, let's get you back to the office*

*Right...I...I don't feel safe right now*

*That's okay the Commander is probably going to take you home after he checks in with a few other people*

Clair and Bikel quickly went back to Winspector headquarters and an hour later both Masaki and Clair are at Masaki's house, with Masaki deliberately showing Clair Aleck and saying that she could stay outside and play with him as long as she wanted, hoping that Aleck would allow Clair to calm down and also act like a kid again like she so desperately needed. Masaki and the EDC had talked while in America and the fact that she had spent the past seven years forcing herself to be older than she really was emotionally meant she needed time to actually mature properly, plus dogs were known to be great companion's in the first place, and as a German Shepherd Aleck would be able to allow Clair the need to be a kid while watching over her in case of trouble because Masaki could tell that Aleck knew that Clair was to be considered pack and protected

*So your name is Aleck huh? Come on let's play ball*

Clair throws the ball and that begins the playtime. Two hours later Masaki went to check on Clair and discovered her still playing with Aleck, but he could also tell that she had recently been doing a lot of running so he wasn't too surprised or scared to see her simply collapse into the grass, especially as he saw her breathing heavily immediately afterwords. Meanwhile Clair was indeed breathing heavily but also laughing while Aleck simply went and laid by her side to continue getting petted

(Thinks) "I haven't relaxed and had fun in a long time, this was needed desperately"

*Aleck sit, good boy*

Clair just continued petting Aleck when suddenly Clair heard a loud noise and reverted to being pretty young and practically ran to Masaki to hide behind, while Masaki had come out ready for trouble only to later discover it was a car backfiring due to some minor engine problems. Though Aleck had also gotten protective via barking and going to just before the gate

*Clair, it was a car*

*Okay, I think I'm ready to eat now*

*Okay*

A few days later Clair was back at Winspector headquarters for tests to be done so that they could figure out what might trigger panic attacks for Clair until further notice since during those few short days after the car incident she had a panic attack doing groceries, shopping for supplies to make her room more hers, getting a tour of the area just in case she had to find a safe place quickly, and also getting herself registered as a temporary ward of Masaki. Most of the problems were sudden crowds, but there were also loud noises that triggered her as well like the fire engine the day they were getting Masaki registered as her temporary guardian


	6. Chapter 6

*Commander, it might be a good idea for her to see a therapist*

*Clair and I have actually been discussing that, but according to her the only therapists cleared to handle her case would be EDC therapists and she isn't ready to be on an EDC base with her family yet*

*Okay, we do have another question specifically for Kerenai this time*

*What is it?*

*Can you help us with learning English in your spare time?*

*What for?*

*We are going to be working with the EDC closely so we need to know the language in order to be able to work with the EDC officers*

*That I can do*

With that Clair starts with simple words and expressions that very day. They also manage to discover a therapist she could go to outside the EDC, it turned out that after the microchip that revealed the truth had been viewed by the EDC and Winspector the EDC showed the message to the Japanese government and the Japanese government in turn explained the situation to the American government and both governments realized that Clair would need help, but that she might not be comfortable with going to an EDC base, at least not initially. As such the Japanese and American governments talked for a bit and finally discovered that military therapists could at need be cleared to know everything that was needed about Clair to allow her to get help plus they could easily meet at the Masaki household instead of a base which might be part of the problem at the moment

*So how often will the therapist come?*

*Initially I think every day, then as you start healing from what you have been forced to do for seven years the visits will taper off until you no longer need it*

*You know that I might always need help*

*We don't think so*

The next day therapy starts and it's quickly noted by the therapist that this process was going to take a while. They also privately noted that there was a chance of her developing a mild case of PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder even with the sessions she was now going to currently be getting, but they also knew that with the help they were giving Clair now the PTSD if she got it would be relatively mild, pretty much only interrupting a good nights sleep every so often if things were done correctly. No one but the therapist was thinking about PTSD because they figured that getting her help now meant that she would avoid that complication later, however the therapist knew that you didn't go through seven years of killing people you didn't want to kill, or hurting those who were just trying to help others without problems. The therapist knew almost everything about her including the fact she had been forced to hurt her family in order to keep them safe, the only thing the therapist didn't know was that her family was the Cybertronians, that part the therapist didn't know, all they needed to know was that she was an EDC kid that had been forced to hurt her family to keep them safe ultimately

*Clair, I know you need a lot of help to deal with your past seven years, but I want to start with basic things, like what your life was like before you were forced into the terrorist group*

*My family was nice, caring and didn't mind that I needed help at times, as it is they needed help raising me due to unique circumstances around my adoption*

*When did you find out you were adopted?*

*I was about six or seven, I knew I didn't have a normal family, but I also didn't fully realize until then just how different my family was, learning that my birth parents died when I was only a month old was hard on me initially, but I managed to get through it with the help of my family*

*You never felt pressured about finding out about your real family?*

*No, and my adoptive family supported me in looking into what family I chose to look into*

Therapy ends and Clair has a normal rest of the day. The pattern of daily visits after she got home with Masaki from the station would continue for a month before things were force ably changed

*Now that we've gone through the easy stuff we need to get through the harder stuff*

*I know. Now then the day I left wasn't my choice, I was given a deadline by the terrorist group to join them or lose my family, as such I joined as quickly as possible, the first few days were...get down!*

Clair suddenly threw herself over the therapist mentally activating her shields, the shields she was born with. Back when Masaki had noticed Clair and saw her forming the visible support beams he naturally had a lot of questions. Once the terrorist group was taken care of and the EDC confirmed that they had permission to explain things to Winspector that's exactly what they did, starting with the support beams she had used to save everyone the first day she properly met Winspector. Back before Clair was born her birth parents were EDC officers chosen to be part of a diplomatic mission to a new planet that was considering joining the alliance with the Cybertronians. Clair's birth mom didn't know she was pregnant at the time and as such things happened that normally would and no precautions had been taken. The planet revealed that they had limited mental powers due to the water but that humans wouldn't be affected that ways, if they were affected by the water it was either allergic reaction to one of the minerals or some of the team noticed that they were a bit more thirsty since the water was naturally slightly salty, though not to the dangerous sea levels. A month later Clair's parents would discover that she was going to be born and they immediately notified the planet who said it was a wait and see type of situation. After Clair's birth parents died the Cybertronians let the planet know that they would now be contacting them if anything was noticed in regards to Clair. Five years would pass normally when one day Clair was in minor danger from falling pots due to her disobeying her family and wondering into the kitchen at the wrong time. Her powers flared into life and protected her and from that day until shortly before she was forced to leave her family for their safety she got training to control her abilities. But at the time she left she still needed to vocalize the ability that she was going to use to activate said ability properly, but during the past seven years whenever she could she kept up the training getting to the point where Clair no longer had to verbalize what she was doing. Clair had discovered only five months before she gained her freedom that her control was to the point where she could declare what she was going to do in her head and that would happen depending on her movements, because what she physically did before she mentally declared either an attack or defense measure was needed as a safety feature of her abilities so that her powers weren't accidentally triggered by her thinking about her powers for whatever reason. At present however she had suddenly had a mental switch from a kid who was still slightly uncomfortable with the therapist, even though a member of Winspector was there in another area as always, to suddenly a mature seventeen year old who had been through enough to trust her instincts. Not only had she mentally activated her shields but as soon as she was up she formed a knife and held it in a reverse grip which was something that had yet to be explained by anyone including her. Ever since her abilities had formed it had been discovered that for whatever reason, if it wasn't a sword, gun, chains or other weapon that required a proper grip, real or formed from her powers anything that she held in her hands that had a handle was held in a reverse grip. Initially it was thought to be influenced by kid shows, but that theory had quickly been disproved, as such it was deemed unknown why she held it in a reverse grip, until then it would turn out. As Clair formed the knife and held it in a reverse grip yet again she finally discovered why she favored that grip if a proper grip wasn't needed. It turned out that it was actually part of her powers, the powers were subconsciously affecting her grip to make it a reverse grip because the people who had similar abilities had to use the reverse grip due to how their hands worked. It made for a much more stable grip for the race that naturally had her powers, while for Clair it was basically a short shield that needed to be switched to a proper grip to do more damage than the reverse grip did except when thrusting her hand into the ground because that was a simple twist of the wrist to easily do that. In the meantime Clair started a fight via her voice

*Who did that? I want answers before I start hunting you down one by one*

The people who initiated the attack came out and the fight was one due to the fact that the intruders also had weapons on them

*Junko I need help here!*

Junko quickly joins the fight with her gun and the intruders are quickly arrested

*That's it, no more meetings here, they are happening at the station period...Junko, could you contact Masaki, tell him I am coming to the station with you, I really, really need him right now*

*No problem, I need help transporting everyone anyways*

It would turn out Masaki would come personally to help transfer the prisoners and as soon as Clair saw him she ran towards him and broke down due to the fact that the safety of the location had been violated now. The therapist ultimately wouldn't take house calls due to the fact that they also sometimes worked at the hospital and as such needed to be close to said hospital in case of an emergency case. But with the help of Winspector the therapist had gotten Clair to think of his home as a safe haven, with this attack the therapist knew that all future appointments would be happening at the police station because he really, really couldn't go to Masaki's to do the sessions, however with the police station centrally located and relatively close to the main hospital and also the police hospital they still wouldn't be too far in case of trouble. But everyone including Clair realized that the therapist now had to be cleared in regards to everything since she had revealed her powers to them due to the attack

*So how are you not dead, and how did you form that knife?*

*That will be explained at the station after you sign some paperwork, because you may mostly be cleared about me which is what allowed you to become my therapist, but there are certain things you don't know about me that you now need to know in order to continue the sessions properly*

*Agreed, I will come to the station tomorrow to sign the paperwork and continue sessions, I think tomorrow we're going to be talking more about what happened today then your past seven years*

*Agreed, oh by the way I finally figured out why I favor that grip you guys aren't too fond of*

*That's step one, step two is figuring out how to fix the issue*

*There's no fixing it, it's part of my abilities, it's going to happen no matter how hard you try and make me correct the grip unless needed*

*Okay, we'll let others know then*

*Okay...Masaki...could you...could you let my family know I think I am ready for letters from them? I know it's only been a month since therapy started but I miss hearing from my family and think I am at least ready for letters if not actual visitations via EDC base*

*There's something I have been keeping safe for you until I heard those words actually, they're all at the station in the office*

The group heads to Winspector headquarters and that's when Masaki shows Clair the letters for her that Masaki had been safe keeping since day one. Now then the letters sent Clair back into tears, but everyone could tell they were happy tears, tears from simply reading and in a way hearing from her family again after so long, even if it hadn't been as long as seven years a little over a month without her family now that she knew they didn't blame her had been hard on her in a way she hadn't realized. A few letters in they also heard her truly laughing for the first time in a long, long while for her, she had laughed at things before but it had sounded slightly faked to them, like she was laughing because she knew it had been expected, but through reading the letters she was truly laughing again. Finally though Clair looked up from the letters and asked Masaki a question he had been expecting from the beginning

*Masaki, how do you already have letters from my family?*

*They've actually been writing to you since day one, but have sent the letters to me for safekeeping until you felt ready to read them, I myself have in return been giving them progress updates on occasion so that they knew where you were in regards to healing*

*Maybe this time I can personally send a letter to let them know that therapy is working, slowly but it's working*


	7. Chapter 7

Suddenly the phone rang and Clair was reminded that she was with police officers because they got a case involving a bomber who had actually been wanted by the EDC for several months before Clair was forced to put her family into stasis. Clair had quietly kept track of information on the bomber because she knew she had to stay with the group to protect her family but she also knew she would leave anonymous tips to her family if she had ever heard of the bomber in order for them to be captured. Unfortunately right after she put her family in stasis the bomber stopped their attacks and hadn't been heard from since until that day

*Masaki, I know this guy, he attacked EDC bases for several months before I was forced to join the terrorist group to protect my family. I kept an ear out for him but unfortunately he suddenly disappeared shortly after I did what I did and I always thought he was either dead or captured, but for him to be active now I guess I was wrong*

*What can you tell us about him?*

Clair shakes her head though which they knew meant it wasn't much

*Unfortunately I can't tell you a lot because my family did their best to protect me. I do know he tends to target government buildings the most often, he also used to mainly use C-4 with occasional TNT use depending on what exactly was needed. I also know that his routine would be to send a threat to his target before the actual attack, unfortunately that's the extent of my knowledge, if there's more information it will have to come from the EDC*

*Clair, looks like we might have to stay late, why don't you go home and get something to eat real quick and then go over to the neighbors for the night. It's just like two weeks ago when I had to go to the conference except for a shorter period of time this time*

*Okay, I'll take care of Aleck while I'm at it, make sure he has food and water at the very least*

Clair would ultimately have to spend two nights at the neighbors place because the bomber actually threatened the families of Winspector and even though not many people knew Clair was in the care of Masaki they were taking no chances until the bomber was caught. The therapist in the meantime had indeed signed the paperwork and got the full story behind Clair and realized that Clair was strong to have lived with the Cybertronians her whole life and then gave them up to protect them, especially because the therapist also realized that Clair had kept her powers and abilities as secret as possible while with the terrorists knowing that they could force her to use her powers for them which she didn't want

*Clair, I know that you were forced to leave your home at a young age, have you ever thought about continuing your education once you were free?*

*Yes, but we have no clue where I would be placed until I take tests, and even then we need to figure out if I would go to the EDC base or a regular Japanese school*

*Wait, you never continued your education while in the group?*

(Snorts) *Ryoma if I had continued education it not only would have been seriously interrupted anyways with constant moving around the globe but the EDC would have been able to track me and the terrorist group didn't want that, as such they deliberately kept me out of school saying what education I already had formally would work. They taught me skills that I would need for them and that was all the education I got* (thinks) " _at least officially though they don't need to know that until testing happens_ "

*Understood, looks like we're going to have to have you take tests to check your placement and then like you said we also need to decide whether or not you should go into the Japanese school system or go to the EDC base for schooling*

*And the EDC base would be an issue since I still...still can't face the EDC and my family properly in regards to being around them for long periods of time*

A noise suddenly was heard and it sounded like an explosion and Clair instantly ran to Bikel and Walter who were the closest, giving everyone a reminder that she was going to get scared still and startle, though the month of therapy really was helping, because she wasn't cowering behind the two or Masaki but was instead running to them to reassure herself that they were close enough to protect her at need. Though it was quickly discovered that the explosion had been caused by a demolition group. During the past month they had noticed that Clair's true personality, once she was completely settled and through therapy, would most likely be a mix of what she had been forced to become and the child she still mentally was. That personality would ultimately be someone who was kind, caring and hated to cause unnecessary harm, but at the same time would be cold and harsh on any who hurt innocent people for no reason, fighting as hard as she could to defend her home and people she cared about. But at the moment it was more a scared child still then the person who would manage to blend the two lives into one

*It's okay Clair, I will check it out and let you know what it was afterwords*

*Okay, then maybe we can continue discussions about schooling, and maybe have you guys continue practicing your English?*

*That would be great*

An hour later Ryoma returned with the news that it was a demolition group nearby, working on demolishing some buildings that were deemed dangerous and uninhabitable after a recent fire. The group was not using explosives but the machines they were using combined with the sound of collapsing buildings was what caused the explosion like sound in the first place

"I understand, now then, let's continue schooling discussions and your English practice for when you interact with the EDC"

"Okay"

The group would talk in English while making the decision that Clair would attend a Japanese school after the tests were done and they knew where she would need to be placed in regards to grade system, they also discussed making new arrangements with the neighbors in regards to Clair staying over with them, plus whether or not she would go straight to the station after school or not, and while not everything was finalized they had the start of a plan. Clair wouldn't know it initially but Masaki had also made the private decision to talk to the school about her circumstances once she was placed so that if she could not handle being in the classroom initially the school was already prepared with tutors or some sort of arrangement that would allow her to keep going to school while at the same time not physically being in the classroom

*Letter for you Clair, but um...it also mentioned that it's also for me but I can't read it*

Clair opens the letter and sees that it's written in Cybertronian, which she thought weird if it was also for Masaki, but then she fully understood. It wasn't that Masaki didn't need to know what was in the letter but the fact that there were some things that were family specific and they wanted Clair to make the decision if she wanted Masaki, who was cleared, to know about the issue or not

*It's a bit private, I will translate what I feel is relevant but after that everything else is private and for me only*

*Okay, by the way the testing will happen tomorrow after your therapy session*

(Groans) *I know that was the best thing for me but just how much longer am I going to go through sessions?*

*I'm not entirely sure, however the therapist did mention that they felt you didn't need many more sessions and that they were mainly going to see how you are adjusting to school and then it will be an at need situation, where we can call them if we feel you need a session but you will no longer have daily session unless they deem it necessary again*

*So they're basically saying that except for the school situation which we won't know until I actually start attending I have adjusted well*

*Exactly*

What no one knew was that the therapist was expecting a call within a few months after sessions stopped saying that Clair had suspected PTSD. However the therapist also knew that the intervention already given would drastically reduce the severity of her PTSD which meant that sessions would be less frequent and not as long either. The next day after her therapy session Clair took placement tests and would ultimately be placed as a ninth grader

*So how did you manage not to be so far behind while with the terrorists?*

*Not easy I can tell you that, as you know while I was with the terrorist group I traveled a lot until recently when they made Japan their base of operations. What you don't know is that we were given days off every so often and I used those days to my advantage, giving teachers a secret student who had to sneak into the school at night to truly practice what they were teaching, and it wasn't easy since I don't know most of the languages that the lessons were written in. As it is I am amazed I managed to get to ninth grade level of classes with the learning so disjointed, I can only attribute that to the fact that I am not only a quick learner but also the fact that my family while I was with them always made sure I learned things a few grades above what I was currently at, at least in regards to math and science depending on several factors*

*Well school starts in three days so we're going to get you registered and prepared for school during that time period*

*Okay, might start a few days late though*

*True, but the Japanese school system was warned about you soon after you arrived in the hospital and the truth was discovered so you won't be that far behind the others*

*Wait, why was the school system informed?*

*A contingency plan made by your EDC family, they figured that there was a possibility of you not being able to stay with your family for whatever reason and as such they prepared Japan for you knowing that Winspector would willingly take care of you*

*And just why was I never made aware of such a contingency plan or part of it?*

*First off, when we were first discussing the plan you were unconscious due to heavy sedation for your own good, otherwise you would have been involved, a Captain Faireborn said so, secondly we weren't exactly sure when you would be ready to attempt a placement test so we all agreed that you wouldn't find out about the plan until and unless it was necessary*

*Okay that I can agree to and understand, just...try not to keep things like this a secret from me in the future, I think I don't particularly like surprises when it comes to what is going on around me*

*Understood, we'll do our best but no promises depending on several factors*

*Fine I know that's the best we're going to get to an agreement*

Clair would start classes only a few days later and it was painfully obvious that an actual classroom was going to be a temporary problem within two hours of school starting, at least for the teachers in their minds. Clair was not only older than most of her fellow classmates but they could tell that she was tense, scared, nervous and just generally too hyper-vigilant about everything to pay any attention to classes like she should, but they also knew they would have to give Clair a little time before pointing out what was obvious to them should Clair herself not realize what was going on and wanted to give school a chance. Clair herself had quickly noticed that she wasn't doing the greatest at paying attention, but had decided to give it at least a week before she pulled out of school figuring she just needed a couple days to settle into the new routine because she figured that's all it was. What Clair didn't realize that the teachers vaguely did was that she still wasn't the greatest around crowds for long periods of time, and the confined classroom made the situation all the worse because there were no escapes, but they were giving her a month before saying anything not knowing Clair was also giving herself a time period. Finally school ended and she went straight to the police station for her regular therapy session


	8. Chapter 8

*So how was your first day of school?*

*Not the greatest, I couldn't pay proper attention to the teachers unlike before everything happened, and I don't know why*

*Are you going to go back?*

*Yes, don't worry I am going to give it a little time before I make the decision to leave school*

*How long?*

*A week, because if I haven't started paying attention by then I won't ever pay attention and I already know that since I learned a lot about myself while on the run with the terrorist group*

*Why not give yourself a little longer this time...Clair you no longer need to force yourself to adapt and you are also with people several years younger than yourself, it might take longer than a week to get used to that*

*In a way you may be right, but I need to do what is best for myself and the school and they don't need a student that doesn't pay attention for so long, I feel like the teachers might give me even longer than what you are suggesting but I personally can't stand letting them have a student who won't pay attention for too long, even if it's not entirely my fault I can't fully pay attention. Especially since I also feel like the students are only part of the problem, there might be more to my issue that can't be dealt with quickly even if we don't know what it is yet*

*If that is the case, we will ask your teachers should you feel you have to leave the school so that we can work on it together, now then our daily session is done unless you feel like you need to talk about anything else*

*Actually...I was wondering if you would like to observe me in a spar against EDC training robots*

*Why do you want me to see your training which I know is private?*

*I think...I think you need to see it to see if what I am doing is helping me get through my seven years faster or if I have been unintentionally slowing down my progress*

*Very well, I have time today to observe for a little while anyways*

Clair leads the therapist to the training room and activates the training robot through voice activation

"EDC training robot level three"

The reason Clair used one of the lower levels was because that level was her warm up before she hit the robot hard enough to actually force it to go full power since she had trained to that level before she joined the terrorist group and even though she hadn't trained with the robot for seven years she kept up her training as much as possible in private and as such she was only two levels below full power once she was free and she had quickly gotten back to full strength. As the therapist watched her train the therapist realized that Clair had done exactly what she needed to do to not only heal physically, but also mentally in regards to finding a way to reconnect with her family without actually being around her family physically, the training robot had allowed her physical training to regain her strength while also letting her safely work through her emotions having been told that the training robot automatically shut down if it detected anything wrong with the person it was fighting. The reason it was able to do that was special sensors that her family had put into all the training robots and that allowed the robots to detect physical and emotional health, though for the emotional part it wasn't fully accurate and very minimal it would still shut down if it detected anything wrong with their emotions mainly through how their brain was reacting to said emotions. Either way it was safe to always train because the robot would shut down immediately after it detected a problem and in the early days it shut down fast until Clair had healed some, plus her family had sent a special chip that temporarily overrode the shut down program when they were told by Masaki that maybe Clair actually needed a physical release for her emotions and the training robot would give her said release

*So is she actually fighting or is this a warm up?*

*This is her warm up routine, it's at a lower level, I think she said level three which means it's at the level EDC officers, or EDC kids are at who are still in the early stages of fighting against the training robots. The reason I say against the robots is because you have to face human opponents and actually have started learning before you go up against the training robots. The only exception to the rule is EDC officers that we know have gotten self defense training since they were young, because we do scout various tournaments that involve high schoolers who haven't joined that involve multiple martial arts disciplines, and at the start of the tournaments they always say how long said person has been practicing their specific self defense art*

*And the training robots can tell from just a punch how strong an opponent potentially is?*

*Exactly, now watch I think she's almost done with her warm up routine and things are about to get serious between her and the training robot*

Clair was indeed almost done with her warm up and five moves later punched the robot hard enough to let the robot know the opponent was strong enough to handle it at full power and the fight was both intense and fast, some of the movements were very hard to see and know that they had been movements while others were pretty obvious because of the fact that either the robot was moved back or Clair was, but eventually the training ended and everyone could tell that she had once again gotten a true workout due to the fact that Walter, Bikel, Ryoma and sometimes even Masaki held back on her and she did the same for them knowing she could break their bones if she went full out against them due to her intense and extensive training she had received before the whole terrorist mess

*Clair the training is actually really good for you, however...I do feel like I need to put one restriction on you in regards to the training you do, I know that the training robot automatically shuts down if it detects problems but I also think you shouldn't train for at least two days after an injury physical or emotional, I know you feel only one day is needed but I feel like you actually need at least two so as to properly give yourself a day to process whatever it is you need to process*

*I understand and will obey, but don't think I won't get into a fight if it means life or death, even if I am too seriously injured to really fight*

*That I will concede to due to the fact that quite frankly if things are that bad you really wouldn't have any other choice, but no training robots*

*Fine*

After the therapist left Clair is given a harsh reminder of what Winspector actually is and just how dangerous their jobs are. MADDOX alerts the team to danger and as normal they respond, but this time things go wrong and Ryoma, Junko and Walter are all injured in the incident with Junko needing hospitalized for three days due to a dislocated shoulder and broken ankle while Walter was out of commission for two days while Nonoyama fixed him, Ryoma lucked out being the least injured of the group with only mild burns and a bullet graze. The injuries set Clair back a few days but only due to the fact that she was forced to remember an incident shortly before the terrorists forced her to join them in regards to her real family, but since she was still seeing a therapist it wasn't as bad as it could be. A few days later Clair with the help of Masaki requested to see the principal of the school she was attending along with at least one of her teachers

*What is going on Kerenai?*

*I am formally requesting that I withdraw from the school. I am not able to properly focus on my classes which means I am not a proper student, if this keeps up you will be forced to have me leave the school anyways. However I am also asking that if you know what is causing me some of my issues you let me know so that I can work on it to hopefully return to school one day*

*First off you are not going to entirely be leaving school, Masaki who is your guardian has already made arrangements should you ultimately be unable to attend school, which it turns out to be the truth, second of all as the principal I do not know what might be giving you trouble, but your teacher might*

*Indeed I do, you might already be aware of the fact that you are too hyper-vigilant in the classroom, but what you don't know is that you are also...I forget the word but uncomfortable in enclosed spaces, at least to a certain point because you have been inside the gymnasium and are perfectly okay in that room*

(Sighs) *I did indeed know about my hyper-vigilant attitude in the classroom, didn't realize part of the problem was claustrophobia which explains a lot actually*

*Sorry Clair, should have realized it sooner considering you live with me*

*If I haven't shown issues since I first moved in with you you couldn't have known*

*Either way, now that we know we can help you with your issue*

*Agreed, now then what exactly is the arrangement you made with the school?*

*You're going to be getting a tutor so as to keep you with your grade, and gradually you will start attending classes again, hopefully by the end of the school year, but if not we will try the beginning of the new school year*

*What will my classmates be told?*

*That an issue popped up and you were suddenly forced to leave the school for you own health*

*And considering what has been discovered it is indeed for your own health that you withdraw physically from the school, because this stress can't be good for you since Masaki has told us a little bit about what you have been through so as to help us prepare a tutor for you*

*What exactly were you told?*

*That you were forced to be away from your family for seven years to protect them, the exact reasons why are unknown to us but he mentioned that it might affect you attending school and wanted us to be prepared to make alternate arrangements for you to get your schooling*

The therapist quickly learned of Clair leaving school and spent three weeks getting Clair through the initial issues that forced her to physically drop out of school, though the therapist also admitted that the claustrophobia would probably always be an issue, but they could lessen the problem with time and patience

*I will do whatever it takes, however I also need to be warned before we actually do physical activities that involve getting me over my claustrophobia*

*What for? I think knowing ahead of time would give you more time to avoid claustrophobia training*

*It's due to something I haven't told you yet, something that involves my time with the terrorists*

*What do you mean? I thought you had told me everything about your time with the terrorists*

*That's what I wanted you to believe, partially because there are some details I never wanted to go into and partially because there are brief periods of time I have actually forgotten, mainly involving my first two years because I know for a fact that I was heavily drugged into obedience my first year and they gradually took me off the drugs my second year but I don't have any or very clear memories until near the end of my second year with them*

*But now you are slowly starting to remember that missing period of time and are trying to integrate it into your memories, which means we have many more sessions ahead of us*

*Actually we don't because what I am remembering we have already dealt with since it's mainly what I was remembering in my first real year of no drugs*

*Wait a moment, why would they drug you if you had already joined them?*

*Because they knew it wasn't very willingly that I had joined them, that it was only through threats to my family that I was part of their group, they drugged me to keep me compliant and less likely to fight orders those first two years*

*Anyways you were saying something about information for us in regards as to why we need to inform you about claustrophobia training*

*Yes, now then you are only going to get the main facts of the story but they are important and quite frankly needed and only the main facts are needed. Five years ago we were in Chad on a mission and things were initially okay and running smoothly, but suddenly...suddenly things drastically changed. I was getting what little sleep I could get at the time when our place was discovered by police, now then I already knew that the police would be acting on tips I gave them and that they would raid the place, but I never gave them our actual location because it was still very much too dangerous to give direct information for an assault on our hiding place. I was discovered and drugged, waking up in a cell that was fairly large all things considered, but for the next month I was constantly moved around with a hood over my head and sometimes I would pass out only to wake up with injuries I didn't remember having before. After a month had passed I was rescued and stayed close to the terrorists for a while not because I felt safe with them but because they didn't let me leave their side, thinking I had betrayed them*

*That's why you need warned before you have training in regards to your claustrophobia, you need to know that you're safe and that what happened back then isn't happening now and never will happen around us*

*Exactly, if I go into a flashback I could kill you unintentionally with my reactions*

*And you feel a warning would help with the issue and keep flashbacks to a minimum if it ever happens*

*I don't know for sure but it's as good a theory as we'll ever get, especially since we didn't even know until recently I had claustrophobia*

*Very well we will give you warning, however the first time you try to escape training due to warning they stop for a week for the first offense and then a week is added every offense after*

*Agreed, though I am forced to make an amendment to the rule, if I accumulate two months of no warning I will simply never be warned again as after that would be too hard to keep track of*

*Very well*

The training began the next day and while it turned out it would take a while part of it was a set back no one was expecting, the therapist also quickly learned that when Clair gives her word about something, unless she has a very good reason to lie she keeps her word as best as possible if it was deemed important or for her health. The one time she missed a claustrophobia appointment was because she was in the hospital after an accident with her tutor since they were heading to a museum for some classwork. They were supposed to be back in time for Clair to get more help with her claustrophobia but wound up in a relatively mild car accident, where her most serious injury was a broken wrist, otherwise she was mainly just scratched up real bad from glass. But that would happen during the set back in the future, though no one knew about it yet

*So how are we going to handle the claustrophobia issue?*

*One session a week*

*Very well, let me know when first as agreed upon*

*Understood, the first session will happen tomorrow*

*Understood*

*Oh and Clair, the claustrophobia sessions are now going to be our only sessions, you no longer need help dealing with the past seven years and integrating with current society*

*So basically all I need are weekly sessions?*

*To help with the claustrophobia, yes*

*Clair I need to stay for a bit so you need to go home and get homework done, neighbor if I call and tell you I can't come home*

*Right*

As soon as Clair leaves Masaki has a serious face and the Winspector team realizes that he needs to tell them something that Clair wasn't to know

*What is it Commander?*

*Remember back when we first took Clair in there was a special meeting I had to attend?*

*Yes*

*Turns out that after it was confirmed that Clair would live with us for at least a year if not longer a new international law was created that the police around the world are required to know if she should ever join the police force of whatever country she chooses, or is forced to live in*

*What's the law sir?*

*Clair is never allowed to go undercover on assignment, even if she wants to, which all things considered she might not, it will never be allowed, and only if she wants to go undercover will she be told about the international law regarding that*

*Why was the law created in the first place?*

*Well as you know she may not want to work undercover, however due to her experience if she were to join the police force a superior might want her to help with an operation by going undercover, this ways she can never be ordered to go undercover if she doesn't want to, and if she does she isn't going to be allowed either because it has been deemed to dangerous for her*

*How so?*

*There's a chance she could be affected by her self assigned mission in ways we don't know yet and going undercover might give her a set back, even if it's brief and not severe*

*Very well, no undercover for her and if need be she finds that out herself, anything else we need to know?*

*Not that I'm aware of currently*


	9. Chapter 9

Clair finished her homework and then ultimately did have to stay at the neighbors because originally Masaki was going to come home, unfortunately plans drastically changed when the police station was attacked. And while it was now common knowledge amongst the police force that Clair was in Masaki's care, normal civilians were still unaware, as it was the police force, minus the police chief didn't know about the fact that Clair stayed with the neighbors whenever Masaki wasn't available at night which meant that it was a safety measure to keep her safe if it was ever discovered by criminals about the person in Masaki's care. While at the neighbors Clair wrote her family a letter in response to the letter she had received from them and mentioned that while she still wasn't feeling comfortable with actually going to the EDC base she might start feeling comfortable with visits at either Masaki's or the police station every so often now, eventually building up to EDC base visits hopefully, not knowing that her family was also a recipient to her therapy session reviews and they knew that while Clair was definitely better and mostly healed, they also knew it would be better to wait until she could actually attend school before they truly visited her because they were also told about the claustrophobia and they wanted to be able to take her on rides on occasion and as such her claustrophobia was currently a problem in their minds since they had also been told that while Clair did ride in cars it was a major struggle and she was almost in full blown panic by the time they got to their location. When Clair was informed of what was going on she immediately started mentally preparing for trouble, fortunately it never happened and the next day Clair went straight to the police station at the normal time since Masaki never picked her up and all the police officers let her head to her target knowing the determined look on her face having seen it on fellow officers plenty of times before and it would turn out she was mad enough to speak completely in English, which Winspector knew but not the few police officers with them

"What...did...the...criminal...do?"

*Clair...*

"NO Masaki-san, I want answers and I want them now, you haven't been home at all, you are with other officers and all I know is that something happened that forced us to use the neighbors and I was on high alert in case our routine was busted somehow, now tell me what is going on before I hack into surveillance and you know full well I can and will do that if I feel it's needed"

(Sighs) "Okay Clair, you win, the police were attacked last night shortly before I left to pick you up, I barely had time to warn you that I couldn't come home and only through MADDOX scrambling the signal did I manage that and we believe no one knows about you, the attack was in waves which is the only reason everyone is even half functional right now and not completely sleep deprived, though some of that was because I forced people to sleep in shifts in the one protected area we had. The criminals escaped though and we are now currently making plans to attack them at locations we know they live at or are known to hang out"

"Fine, I am staying here though, period, I cannot go home and worry by myself, being here with updates will help and you know it"

"I know, but you are staying here at Winspector headquarters, food will have to be brought to you understood?"

"Perfectly"

"And do try and remember we're the only ones who speak English"

"Don't worry I know that, just worry that made me not speak immediately in Japanese"

"Understood and I will try and remember that for the future"

"And I will try and remember to speak in Japanese if you have officers with you that don't know English, just be glad I didn't go to my other stress response that was discovered at age eight"

"Oh?"

"Cybertronian"

"Agreed, time for Japanese?"

Clair simply nods and Masaki finished talking to the officers about what he had been talking about before Clair had interrupted and that's when Clair speaks up hearing about the patrol route that had been set up

*Sorry Masaki but that isn't going to work, there's a pile up for some reason that I saw on my way here involving that route*

*I'll check into it then, you know the alternate routes to take during that patrol route then*

*Right*

One of the officers gently taps Clair on her right arm in thanks and there is immediate concern in regards to the fact that she expressed pain and put her left hand on her right arm

*Clair what's wrong?*

*Not...entirely sure, I accidentally hit the wall during my training but everything seemed fine until now*

*So you were simply doing self defense training and ran into the wall?*

*Yes, Masaki I was doing my blindfold training when it happened which you know full well I can do without trouble*

*Wait, you can do self defense training blindfolded?*

*My training is...unique in regards to how I am able to do such a thing*

*Must be, most people never can do self defense even when they are seeing their opponents*

*EDC training robots are even worse to fight blindfolded*

*Hey! I didn't go up against the training robots last night...though I will admit I want to do the same training today, or I did until this new discovery, I was simply doing it in the neighbors garage*

*Wait this has never happened before there*

*Well I don't know what changed but everything seemed fine when I took the blindfold off, so I really don't know how I hit the wall this time*

It would turn out that while Clair would normally be able to do her training blindfolded at the neighbors without problems she was actually getting sick and that affected her ability to fight, and with one of her senses temporarily unavailable she got a bit disoriented without knowing it, however she wouldn't find out about her illness for another three days, after an incident which forced her to seek medical care

*Either way you are going to rest that arm today and only do homework, I will inform your tutor about needing to come here to get things done, and you also have claustrophobia dealing to do tomorrow*

*Might need to delay that slightly depending on what happens today, I hope we can do it tomorrow however...*

*The therapist already knows claustrophobia training might be delayed, but we're keeping to our agreement of letting you know, unless you break your word*

*I know, thanks for the heads up*

The day was spent relatively calm and the claustrophobia training Clair needed happened on time which was a good thing in everyone's mind since she was now able to be in a theater sized room with people in it which was a huge step in everyone's mind, though everyone noticed that she was still inclined to be near the back where the closest exit would be it was still progress. The next day Clair was at the station doing target practice since she did have a license to carry her weapons when suddenly after another officer accidentally bumped into her hitting her stomach she started coughing up blood which sent her straight to the hospital and that's when it was discovered that Clair had been sick for several days and had slowly been getting worse without her really noticing the symptoms yet

*How is it you never noticed symptoms of illness?*

*Sorry Masaki, but I think you already know the answer to that*

*You were ignoring symptoms despite direct orders that I gave you when you first entered my home?*

*Not...entirely, when I started getting blurred vision while at the shooting range I knew something was wrong and was going to tell you when that incident that caused me to wind up here happened, before then things were so subtle that while I was feeling a little tired and lousy I put it down as overworking myself and the seasonal allergies I seem to have developed over the past two years*

Masaki knew that Clair was telling the truth so he let it drop while allowing the doctors to get Clair the treatment she needed to get better the fastest time possible

*When will she be released?*

*Not for at least two days Masaki...and there's paperwork I need you to sign since you are currently her guardian according to paperwork we have on her*

*If I was eighteen I would be able to sign this paperwork myself, but since I'm not I can't*

*Eighteen?*

*That is when she is considered a legal adult in America which is her citizenship, however due to unique circumstances she is currently living in Japan under my care*

*Masaki you may be deemed my legal guardian but you know full well that I might have requested a little time with you if we had met when I was eighteen due to the circumstances of our meeting*

*True, but due to you being underage I, with the agreement of your family, became your legal guardian temporarily at least*

(Thinks) " _Masaki-san just you wait until I turn eighteen, you are going to be receiving a big surprise_ _that my family has agreed with through letters and since I will be eighteen I could have done it without_ _family knowledge or approval but decided to get their approval due to the agreement I know you made_ _with the EDC which means they trust you explicitly_ "

Clair was released exactly two days later and while she didn't find out why paperwork was needed, she figured it had to do with the treatment, not knowing that she was only partially correct, while some initial paperwork was for treatment purposes another portion of paperwork was something Masaki had requested back when he was made Clair's legal guardian. The reason it had taken so long to get the paperwork was because the doctor's hadn't been so sure that it wasn't all a good joke that Masaki had decided to play with them until right before the police station incident that the EDC got involved in only because of the fact that Winspector was theirs and they were making sure that Winspector was okay, when they learned that the doctor's had thought the extra paperwork Masaki had requested was a joke they sent representatives to the hospital directly and corrected the medical staff on thinking the paperwork was a joke and that Masaki was dead serious on having the extra paperwork drawn up and signed. The paperwork in question was giving the hospital staff emergency power of being able to make medical decisions until an EDC officer or member of the Japanese government came to the hospital if something happened to Masaki and Clair needed medical treatment for whatever reason until she was eighteen, once that happened if she was unconscious it was automatically assumed that doctor's had permission to treat an unconscious patient in America and for Clair who was an American citizen that permission was the same in any country where the legal age was higher than eighteen

*You are allowed to resume normal activities, however I must give you the same warning you might have heard other times about listening to your body, if something hurts don't do it*

*I know, doctor just how bad could it have gotten without treatment?*

*You could have died, as it is if the symptoms had been delayed any further and treatment delayed because of that you would have gotten very, very sick and it would have taken longer to treat the problem*

*Understood, like I told Masaki I was going to get treatment the day I came here anyways since I had blurry vision*

*That's good, but remember what I said about symptom delays*

*True...there isn't much for me to go on in getting treatment if I simply feel like I am dealing with allergies*

*Exactly*

Clair is released and they went straight to the police station and that's when Masaki receives good news, but news that everyone knew would affect Clair over the phone


	10. Chapter 10

*Clair we need to talk once Ryoma and Koyama come here*

The two were called and then Masaki let everyone know what was going on

*I just received a phone call and we finally know who attacked the police station a few days ago. Ryoma and Junko are going to be going undercover in the group while Koyama will be the main contact point*

*Once a week, I need the two of you to make contact once a week, I know that you might be late by a couple of days but even though most will think it's a regular report it's mainly so that I know you two are still alive*

*We can live with that, and it makes sense, it might not be both of us Clair you do understand that right?*

*I know, but one person can speak for both at need right?*

*Correct*

*Then if need be that's what's going to happen*

*Very well, we're all agreed then*

Unfortunately only two weeks into the mission contact was lost

*What does that mean?*

*It means something has probably happened and they are now going to be declared missing and presumed dead until we have proof otherwise*

*I see...I think I will just go and do my homework at your place for now Masaki*

Masaki knew instantly that Clair would need an emergency therapy session, hopefully before the claustrophobia session took place. No one knew how long it would take to confirm that Ryoma and Junko were dead or not but he was preparing for a long time of Clair having a set back

_First month_

Clair had the emergency session and they dealt with the basics of what Clair was feeling. Afterwords they continued the claustrophobia training with her finally able to handle a room the size of the classroom, now then it was still an empty room but they were making true progress and hoped that Clair would able to go back to school sooner than originally planed. They also held a private memorial at the EDC base due to the fact that Clair pushed herself hard enough to manage to stay at the base long enough for her family to pay their respects to the two officers who helped after the initial period of adjustment Clair had to go through, even if it turned out the two were alive they held the memorial just in case their bodies were found and they didn't have time when the discovery was made

_Second month_

Clair continued claustrophobia practice and revealed she had pushed herself too far too soon and suffered a mild set back forcing them to go back to the room size before shortly after her progress, part of the problem of getting any progress was the fact that she was in an accident after a museum trip for school which set her therapy back two weeks while the therapist was making sure that she was dealing with the aftermath of the crash correctly and also physically healing well like she was supposed to. Clair also started truly training to do any basic job in either the military or police once she turned eighteen (the Japanese and American government both knew why she was so far behind in school and would have her as a reserve until she either finished or passed her GED which they were going to have her take twice a year once the second school year started, per her request soon after she got a handle on the tutoring lessons) and even perfected a few new moves for her unique style of self defense, though Masaki did have to restrict her slightly after seeing the aftermath of her pushing herself too far after a training session one day

*You will listen or I will tell your actual family and you will have to deal with them*

*Fine I will obey, but don't think I will be too happy if the moves are needed and I can't properly do them*

*I know but I doubt your family would want to hear of you pushing yourself so far that you seriously injured yourself so soon after recovering from the crash*

*Fine don't think this is over though*

*Oh I know it isn't, but for now you need rest*

*Fine, has there been any word about...*

*None*

*I understand*

_Third month_

Clair finally managed to do car rides without panicking but they soon discovered that Clair still could not go to regular school due to the fact that she was still having issues with lot's of people in one small location, and while they figured that eventually they could get her to the point of attending regular classes she would always be slightly uncomfortable, but actual class attendance would be good in their minds. Clair also had to talk Bikel and Walter out of doing undercover work themselves by pointing out that not only would they be discovered way too quickly but also letting them know that she really couldn't take any more loss at the moment having recently discovered that she had lost some of her real family recently. Masaki and her had talked about her moving back in with her EDC family now that she could handle being on base and around them but everyone involved soon agreed that it was best that Clair remain in the care of Masaki as a defense measure against EDC enemies, plus while Clair could be on base and around her family she was still occasionally fighting off panic attacks if she was suddenly with a group of new people and with transfers happening often in the EDC they didn't want her to have a panic attack in a place she could consider safe

*So basically I still can't live with my family*

Masaki doesn't answer in Japanese though due to the fact that Clair had continued working on having the whole group fluent in English and as such Masaki decided to finally prove that except for a few things he was now fluent in English

"Yes, but you guys are now authorized to visit the base regularly so that you have more personal contact with your real family than just letters"

"Okay I will agree to that, Bikel, Walter do I need to keep the two of you separate and off base from now on?"

"No, why?"

"Because of how you acted around my family when we just visited them that's why"

"It's not exactly what you think"

"Oh really Bikel?"

"Yes, what you saw was actually unique practice that we agreed on during one of your nights at the neighbors and we contacted your family beforehand and they agreed to the training since it would help those newer on base to learn how to react to unexpected surprises from either them or other visitors"

"Fine it was training and I don't need to take measures, however don't you think you should have warned me about the training?"

"Sorry Clair we didn't think to warn you since your reactions were unexpected due to the fact you can normally tell when training is going on"

"Okay that makes sense, but unless there's surprise training for me as well tell me about training you're going to be doing at EDC bases that involve you acting like that"

"Very well"

_Fourth month_

Clair finally finished claustrophobia training and went back to life before she was forced to join the terrorists minus actually attending classes because it had been decided by everyone to wait until spring started before trying to see if she could handle classrooms once more. Instead a new problem arose, something everyone but the therapist didn't think would happen due to early intervention. Clair discovered she had PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The main symptom she had was a bad nights sleep several nights in a row, but it would also turn out that she would always be triggered by loud sudden noises that sounded like explosions (the only time she wasn't triggered was at known fireworks shows and the EDC base where there was constant explosives practice and the risk of attacks, and that was only due to fair warning ahead of time because of location and being told about events beforehand) and also didn't appreciate people suddenly touching her, especially at night. Winspector also finally found out that Clair had a good reason to not use her stronger attacks with her abilities consecutively even at extreme need due to the fact that while at the EDC base for time away from the police station there was an attack and Winspector was forced to get involved in order to defend themselves

"Thanks Clair we definitely needed that last attack"

"But it cost me a lot"

"What do you mean Clair?"

Clair doesn't answer though instead they hear coughing and just as they turn around they see Clair collapse. Two hours later the battle was over and Clair was in the infirmary hooked up to an IV once more and they knew it was the high energy drip that she was on like the first time they had met her

*Masaki, what happened?*

*She used several powerful attacks in succession and just when we thought she could take a break she was forced to do one last attack due to the enemy and then passed out after telling us that move cost her somehow*

*There's something not many people know about Clair's powers that were explained to her when she was about nine years old and had started noticing things when she used her more powerful attacks close together. It turns out that not only does her abilities physically exhaust her but she also gets sick if she overextends herself since it uses her very immune system and basically life force. Her powers have a safety feature that forces her to go unconscious before she really puts herself in trouble to kill her with her powers but like the day she saved you guys she can last long enough to let you know if she needs help or to accept thanks before passing out depending on several factors like a sudden burst of power all at once*

*We understand*

Fortunately Clair quickly recovered and then two weeks later they received a shock they weren't expecting. Due to the fact that it had been four months they assumed that Ryoma and Junko were dead by now, as it was they thought they had been given a lead within the first month of their disappearance only to find out it was a false lead. What they didn't know was that Ryoma and Junko were alive and now deep within the group that had attacked the police which forced them undercover in the first place, and the two also had very solid reasons not to make contact for four very long months. One of which was because they had been discovered only two weeks into the mission and had to make the group think they were dead too, they had given themselves a week to heal and then with new identities they went back into the group and got to the inner circle this time. Part of why they had been discovered the first time was the identities that they were using were solid undercover identities, if you weren't talking about a terrorist group trying to take down police around the world because the group could hack into normal police files. However the second time around the two had secretly gone to the EDC and the EDC had given them their new identities and also promised not to tell the truth to the rest of Winspector, or Clair in order to keep them safe in case the group ever found out where Masaki lived and Clair was there at the time. They knew that just like they had forgiven Clair for what she had done Clair would forgive them since it was done in the name of safety, they just weren't sure if Masaki would be in a forgiving mood also. What no one knew was that Clair was hiding something about her powers, something that was huge and minor at the same time depending on several factors, though everyone would find that out the hard way via an attack on the EDC base since they had asked Winspector for some help and the group that attacked the police decided to be idiots and attack the EDC base this time since that was where Winspector was. Before the attack though Winspector arrived at base and things were calm and Clair finally had a chance to ask the question she had been wanting to ask since she had been told they were heading to the EDC base

_OK so those who have read my stories have noticed that the main character has special abilities and_ _those abilities have expanded and gotten more complex the more I write the abilities out. Clair has_ _reached a point no other character has reached, the point will be explained in story by the way, now_ _then if I continue to write these types of stories where the main character has powers I don't know if_ _anyone will ever reach the same state Clair has since each story has seen the abilities evolve slightly_ _differently depending on which direction the story is going at the time. However no matter what this is_ _essentially where I have been going this whole time, even without realizing it since my stories write_ _themselves (yes that is me admitting to why the stories sometimes seem to have no sense in parts only_ _for the reasons behind actions to be explained later, it's not my fault the story wants to go that ways, for_ _fellow writers I am sure the same thing has happened to you a time or two as well so you know what I_ _am vaguely talking about, since I am sure it doesn't happen constantly with you as it does with me)_

"So why are we here Masaki-san?"

"Easy, your family asked us to be here for some special weapons training and some help on some minor issues that have recently shown up"

"And I am here and not getting tutoring right now like I should because...why?"

"Your teacher feels that it might be a good idea for you to visit the base with us and ask questions about living and working here not knowing the truth about you seeing as how you have requested to take the GED tests twice a year once the first year of tutoring is finished, they figure you might as well figure out now if it's something your interested in or not since you will technically be old enough to join in a few months from now"

"Okay that makes sense then and I understand where they are coming from, but still I do have one more question, before I make any major decisions can we start seeing about if I am truly ready to live on my own yet? I know that legally I will not be allowed to rent a place for several more months, but maybe with your permission I can start staying at the hotel near your job for a few weeks at a time"

"That is something we might want to start looking into, especially since the school you might join will already be informed of your situation before you rejoin school in person"

"Yeah, we still need to finish working on that little aspect in case I get an office job"

"True enough, but honestly we might have reached the limit and you will always be slightly uncomfortable around a bunch of people in an enclosed space"

"True, but we won't know until I actually go back to school"

"We'll see once the new school year has started, it's been decided that it's too late in the year for transfers right now"

"Fine you and the school win that argument, but you had better keep your word about me rejoining school come fall"

"Don't worry I will, by the way I noticed you had a bad night last night"

"Yeah think I might have PTSD, don't fully know that yet though"

"Might have to see the therapist again for confirmation"

"No kidding"

Clair suddenly went past the group but with good reason, she had seen Rodimus from a distance and since she hadn't seen him in a long time she wanted to greet some of her family that she missed, despite regular correspondence with them. Afterwords Winspector had some weapons training and then learned that what the EDC needed help with was regarding making a few new policies in regards to when they would get involved in police matters. They were already automatically involved if it was proven that Quintessons or other alien species were involved somehow, but the EDC was also starting to think about helping during regular patrols when they knew special events were being planned and as such spread the police force thinner than it normally was, and also being part of security at regular events too, but they needed to run that idea past Winspector first to see if it was a good idea or would just make things even more complicated in the future and to just forget about it now

"It should work, but I think you should also talk with the government before actually going through with this and make absolutely sure you have their permission to help us out when we need it"

"That makes sense...what was that?"

Suddenly the group heard explosions and then an EDC officer came running in with a very important report. Back when the police station was first attacked Winspector informed the EDC about the attacks, and later about how it was a terrorist group that had attacked them, though not the group that Clair had been with for seven years since that group had already been taken care of, they also told them when Ryoma and Junko were lost to them which is why the memorial had taken place when it had. When Winspector had told the EDC about the group the EDC immediately put the group on their alert list so that all officers would recognize the group to report an attack if needed, and now it was needed

"It's the group that Ryoma and Junko tried to go undercover in Prime, they're attacking the base"

"Then they're about to find out what a big mistake that was for them to make"

"Masaki-san, think you can join in?"

"Try and stop us"

"Rodimus, I'm going to be part of the first wave"

"Clair..."

"Sorry, but there's a reason I need to be out there from the start"

"Fine, be careful"

"I know and I will be"

"Clair, wait..."

Clair turns to Masaki and smiles

"Don't worry Masaki-san, I know what I am doing, and if something happens to the rest of Winspector I promise I won't get completely lost in grief, I already knew back when you first took guardianship of me that losing you guys was a possibility. The only reason Ryoma and Junko dying affected me so much was because of the fact that quite frankly I was expecting them to die doing normal duties, not while on a sudden undercover mission since I knew from the start that them going undercover was rare to never having happened before"

Clair then goes outside and closes her eyes, those around her knew she was concentrating on her abilities, getting the focus needed to go full out for as long as she needed, what they didn't know was that she was also thinking about what she was about to reveal

(Thinks) " _I wonder, am I truly ready for this, am I ready to reveal my full abilities in regards to my_ _powers?_ "

Clair thinks back to her last meditation session, Clair had been meditating as a means to help her with her emotions since therapy had started all those months ago and the meditating also helped her in regards to her powers, getting them more refined and under her control. During meditation though she had reached a state of enlightenment that very few of the species that actually had her powers reached. Clair had discovered that after a time everyone reached the state where they no longer had to verbalize the use of powers to activate them, just movement depending on the action needed, but very few reached a realization of not only why they had the abilities in the first place but what they were truly for, when one reached that state of realization they no longer needed motion signals for the abilities, all they had to do was think what they wanted and it happened. Now depending on what was wanted there was still body movement that was needed but it wasn't a trigger for the powers. Clair then opened her eyes determined

(Thinks) " _I am ready_ "

If anyone had looked at Clair closely they would have noticed a slight physical change that indicated she was channeling her special powers, her eyes had gone from the brown they normally were to a hazel color. It would always be the only indication that Clair had reached the ultimate state of her abilities, the state where her abilities were truly instinctive. Now she could still get dangerously tired if she consecutively used her more powerful attacks, but the drain took longer now and her smaller attacks could be used without any noticeable affect, no matter how long she used them now the smaller attacks would never affect her energy again

"Kerenai mind shooting yet?"

"No problem"

Clair uses the gun she was handed and then just looks at a part of the ground and sudden a crack in the ground shows up putting some of the enemy in the ground, as well as several pieces of equipment. Everyone paused in their fighting to look at Clair who didn't say or do anything, but suddenly she had a sword in her hand and wasn't being affected by enemy bullets

"How...how is she doing that?, I thought she needed to verbalize what she wanted along with movement"

"Remember how we were told she only needed movement shortly after we found out the truth about what she did almost eight years ago now?"

"Oh yeah, but as far as I know she didn't even make any of the normal motions to mentally activate the abilities"

"I think...I think she's controlling everything by instinct, and if that's the case I don't think she even needs movement now to control her powers"

"This could get very interesting in the future then if that's the case"

"No kidding"

Clair suddenly stopped use of her powers for one reason and one reason only, she noticed that she wasn't really affecting the group at all except to slow them down by making holes in the ground. At that realization she stopped channeling her powers which meant her eyes returned to their normal brown color and she ran towards the group going into melee fighting, which was actually turning out to be the most effective method

"Okay, everyone stop shooting and join Kerenai in hand to hand combat"

Clair took down two opponents, who were promptly arrested when she went up against her third, and this time she was actually having to fight because it was almost as if her opponent knew her, and then she heard something she thought she would never hear again

*White Swan, Clair, White Swan*

Clair's eyes went wide and she instantly stopped fighting her opponent, because White Swan was a code phrase that was to be used only in an emergency by one person and one person only, and that person was currently considered dead. Way back when Clair was first free from the terrorist group and regaining her strength, she wanted to go straight back into the training she had always done, but Winspector was hesitant for very good reason. As such Clair develop code phrases for each member of the group if she was fighting them and it seemed like she was in the past more than in the present whenever she was fighting them, when it was decided that Ryoma and Junko would go undercover Clair insisted that if in the course of the assignment she was forced to fight one of them, all the two would have to do is say the code phrase and she would instantly either back off, or make the fight look good to keep their cover intact. It was basically her way of being able to identify them no matter what they looked like at the time of reunion

*Ryoma?*

*Yes, Junko is alive too by the way, explanations will have to wait until we're sure everyone is either dead or arrested, as such you need to take me down so that I can be put into custody*

*Fine*

Clair quickly knocks Ryoma out and an EDC officer nearby handcuffs him. Two minutes later Clair was yet again fighting an opponent who seemed to know her which meant that she knew instantly that it was Junko, and she was quickly given proof of that as well

*Cherry Blossom*

Clair simply nods and then knocks Junko out, and about ten minutes after Junko was knocked out the entire group was either dead or in custody. As soon as that was confirmed Clair made sure that Ryoma and Junko were separated from the rest of the terrorists"Clair, why did you separate those two?"

"Because there's more going on in regards to them then you think, for now just trust me on this okay Rodimus?"

"Fine, but only because of the fact that we raised you until you were ten"

"I know, by the way the two I separated need to talk to Winspector once they wake up...erm if they don't have a concussion that is"

"Clair..."

"Easy I already alerted the officers about the possibility of concussions, but unfortunately they can't do much right now"

"Okay you win on that point, as long as there was indeed fair warning you aren't in any trouble"

"Though I do have to ask, did you possibly have to give them a concussion?"

"Yes, yes I did all things considered"

"Fine, they will be checked out immediately once they wake up...actually everyone you fought will be checked out in case you hit harder than you thought you had"

Two hours later saw Clair checking on the two prisoners she had separated and everyone could tell that she was actually concerned about the fact that they had yet to wake up, which meant that something important or major was going on with those two and they didn't know what it was

"Clair, as far as we can tell they're fine"

Suddenly the male member of the two groaned and woke up, quickly followed by the female member. The two sat up with their eyes still closed and a hand to their head, fortunately when the two finally opened their eyes they seemed okay, but the EDC officers still wanted to make sure

"You two have a mandatory check in with the medics first before any questions are asked or answered"

*So you haven't told them anything?*

*No, I figured it best you explain things yourselves, especially considering who you two really are*

*That makes sense, group still here?*

*Yes, oh and just so you know, I can be on base, I can be around people, but Masaki is still my guardian for reasons that will be explained after you two explain yourselves*

*Understood*

The two are then taken to the medics and medically cleared of any problems

*Now then that doesn't mean issues won't pop up later, you two got hit pretty hard by Clair, but for now I can give you medical clearance for anything from being interrogated, which the two of you will be to working at any job you are asked to work at as punishment*

*Good, we're going to need the medical clearance for work immediately for reasons we can't exactly explain right now*

*Actually doctor, can you come with so that you can let everyone else know these two are medically cleared, you'll find out why soon enough how important the medical clearance is*

The doctor goes with them to the conference room Clair had insisted on and Winspector, plus a few other EDC officers were already in the room

"Alright Clair what's going on?"

"First off, English or Japanese?"

*Japanese, we can speak and understand English as well as the EDC officers and Winspector can, for reasons that will be revealed soon enough, but for now I think it best we use Japanese*

*Very well then, how do you two want to do this?*

*Very easily, yet at the same time very complicated, Kagawa Ryoma and Fujino Junko reporting in after after almost four months of being under deep cover and believed dead*

Masaki and the rest of the Winspector team just stared at the two and then finally Masaki found his voice

*Ryoma...Junko, is it really you?*

*If you want the doctor can do blood tests to confirm it, however, there are also EDC officers that are hopefully on base that can confirm it's us and help explain what is going on*

Masaki goes for the blood test and a few hours later it's confirmed it really is the two of them. Once that happens Masaki demands explanations and for the next three hours Ryoma and Junko explain why they made everyone believe they were dead for almost four months and the information they got for their assignment. The EDC officers involved in hiding the truth from Clair were very relieved that she seemed to understand why they hadn't told her the truth and didn't hold it against them not realizing that their assumption about the fact that since she had done the exact same thing to them almost eight years earlier to protect them was correct, she assumed that they had done the same thing to her and Winspector for the exact same reason and as such she had no right to be angry at them


	11. Chapter 11

*We still have a lot of work ahead of us to fully take down the terrorist group, but today was a good start*

*Indeed it was, indeed it was, now then we can get back to work immediately and start taking down criminals again*

*Oh no you don't, you need...*

The doctor interrupts Masaki though

*Actually Masaki, they are medically cleared for work, when I cleared them for this question and answer session I also cleared them for immediate work not realizing I was talking to police officers. Now then they may have delayed symptoms that I am unaware of but they already should know the rules if they do indeed have delayed symptoms and started feeling them*

*They'd better, otherwise they are going to get a rude awakening on the rules*

*Oh we already know the rules, and if I ignore symptoms again like shortly before I found out we wouldn't be forced to go to Paris I know I am going to be forced off duty temporarily*

*You got that right*

*Huh?*

*Not something to worry about doctor, unless he gets affected while on base you shouldn't see what we are talking about*

*Very well, you guys are good to go back to police headquarters*

*Fine, Clair you can explain why the commander is still your legal guardian there?*

*Fine by me, and the explanation is actually really simple*

Fifteen minutes later they were back at the police station at Winspector headquarters with Koyama already there having been informed of what was going on while Ryoma and Junko were telling their story in regards to being undercover and thought dead for so long. As soon as the doors were closed Ryoma switched to English

"Okay Clair, explain why the commander is still your legal guardian until you turn eighteen in a few months"

"Okay like I said it's actually really simple, I may be able to handle being on base, I may be able to be around my true family once more, however I still get apprehensive if I am suddenly around a lot of new people, which might never change and with the base always transferring people it's not currently the most stable environment for me right now, not to mention it's also a safety measure against enemies of the EDC"

"What do you mean?"

(Sighs) "I told you guys before that Captain Faireborn helped take care of me since my real family are robots correct?"

"Yes, you did"

"What I didn't tell you was that very few people, even in the EDC knew who my true family were, that was a safety measure established so that the Cybertronians weren't targeted for me or me being targeted by Cybertronian specific enemies. Now then that security measure is still very much in place, but my family decided it would be a lot easier to keep up the illusion with me being off base and having Masaki-san still my legal guardian, it's an extra layer of security if you will. Besides it will keep my school records more easily intact then if I suddenly went from the Japanese school system to the American school system"

"Okay that makes sense, and like you said it really is a very easy explanation, but only for those with proper security clearance I'm afraid"

"Didn't realize that but it is what it is, besides I still can't be by myself, though we are working on it for when I turn eighteen and can be considered a legal adult in America"

"Understood"

Over the next few days everyone noticed that Clair had reverted back to her early days released from the hospital. She wouldn't let Ryoma or Junko out of her sight whenever possible and except when they did their police duties or were at home went every where's with them if she wasn't in a tutoring session as such she currently had to put the apartment issue on hold

*I am never going to be able to be by myself if the setbacks keep remaining severe after something like what you two were forced to do*

*Clair, everything takes time, there's a chance that you might not always have severe setbacks, for now you are finished with the school year so just focus on that aspect and what is going to start happening the next school year. We'll work on helping you with possibly always having setbacks after missions like this another time*

*Fine*

*When do you turn eighteen?*

*Three more months*

*Once that happens we'll assess how you are doing and go from there, alongside your family okay?*

*Okay, and I think...I think I really need my therapist again to help me deal with the aftermath of this assignment*

*We'll call them and get daily sessions started again*

Fortunately it turns out that Clair only needed daily sessions for two weeks and then went to weekly sessions until further notice, part of why that was was because she already had coping methods, the reason she reverted so badly in the first place was because she was still coping with regular reports on terrorist groups attacking other police stations besides theirs which is how they found out who the group was and so she was not only scared for the two going undercover but also the other police officers. The two going missing coincided with a pretty severe attack on another police station thus seeing the two alive made her revert so that she knew for sure that they were indeed alive still and not amongst the dead officers

*We won't be on any more undercover assignments for a while Clair, but that may have to happen in the future, for now though we can do our normal duties*

*Fine, just be warned that if a similar situation happens again I might revert yet again*

*We know and understand that you reverting will always be a possibility, so ready to start trying to live on your own?*

*Yes, the experiment will finally start happening, now then legally I am not going to be alone since Masaki is my legal guardian, but the hotel we're staying at is close to the police station and have been told why we are doing this just in case something happens. If I do well over the next two and a half months I will be able to get an apartment by myself while still living relatively close by in case of trouble*

*What I want to know is what caused the delay in you trying to live by yourself, I thought that was originally planned for when we were thought dead*

*It was, this is actually round two of the attempt, the first one was quickly aborted due to an arson situation at the time*

*Oh I remember hearing about that, the commander wanted you close by in case of trouble didn't he?*

*Nope, I insisted on helping as much as I could only being seventeen, however due to both my family and the terrorist group that I was with for seven years I had some insight on arson that others didn't, especially the type that was ultimately happening, that's the only reason the case was solved as quickly as it was*

*Speaking of, we've been wandering something for a while now*

*What is it?*

*How on earth did you manage to escape Stockholm Syndrome? I know you might not want to answer but we need to know in case this kind of situation ever happens again*

*Because of the fact that if I join the military there's a chance of being a prisoner of war for a long time and if I become a police officer there's a chance I might be taken captive by criminals for long periods of time as a bargaining chip*

*Exactly, this ways everyone in the military and police knows how you will manage to avoid being feeling indebted to them or wanting to be compassionate or stay with them*

Clair realizes that what they were talking about was indeed true and as such knew that answers were needed, but at the same time since she was still a minor and not officially part of the police she decided to only tell Winspector

(Sighs) "I was actually wondering if you guys would ever ask that question, and I really can't fault you for not asking initially when I was such a mess. Now then I don't know if I have told you guys yet or not but I did have times when I wasn't watched by the terrorist group, you might have also noticed that I tend to people watch, especially at parks, what I am looking at mostly are families being together in safety and freedom. While I was abroad whenever I got the chance I deliberately went to parks to watch families but I also went to police, military or EDC demonstrations whenever possible as well so as to remind myself what I was ultimately working for, why I was allowing myself to stay with the terrorists for so long. That's how I avoided Stockholm Syndrome, I made sure to remind myself what I was doing and why, and when you spend seven years doing that constantly it becomes ingrained in you why you always have to keep fighting and never give in to any mental torture of any form, I will also never give into physical torture either for the exact same reason"

"Don't tell me let me guess, personal experience with the group?"

"Indeed"

"What did they do and why?"

"It was a simulation in my fourth year with them to test my loyalties due to some actions I had taken recently, they used forbidden by law interrogation techniques"

"Which laws did they break?"

"Not only did they break the Geneva convention they also broke special internationally ratified new laws after the EDC was formed, plus remember the rumored terrorist convention about three years before I turned ten?"

"What of it?"

"Turns out that rumor wasn't a rumor after all and there was indeed an international terrorist convention, due to how out of control certain groups were getting everyone at that convention agreed to a certain standard when it came to prisoner care and they also established rules about interrogation. Those rules were passed to all the terrorist groups who agreed to them, including the group that I was part of, the other terrorists found out about the rule breaking because I was a member of the group which there were rules for in regards to torture resistance training and loyalty tests. After that discovery we were on the run for three months until caught by another terrorist group and the leader was forced to promise never to break the rules again and also had to forfeit about seventy percent of a recent job that had been done on the Swiss bank"

"How much was that then?"

"Ultimately about 85,000 dollars out of a billion I think, might not be accurately remembering though due to the fact that quite frankly we spent that money or hid it way too fast"

"That's light really"

"Not really, because I found out later that there were other punishments added that I don't know about and never did find out before I got out of the group"

"Oh, okay we understand, so time for you to live on your own then"

Clair switches back to Japanese since the private part was now over

*Yes, but first, which officer did I swipe this package of cigarettes and lighter from?*

Clair takes out a pack of cigarettes and a zippo lighter from her pockets and one of the officers, recognizing the packet and lighter starts looking on his person and quickly realizes that Clair was holding the real thing

*When did you...*

*Oh this, I did it earlier today when I bumped into you coming in*

*How did you do it without anyone noticing?*

Clair simply sighed and was suddenly very grateful that at least that aspect of her life wasn't classified any longer, having decided during the time that Ryoma and Junko had been thought dead that regular police could know about the terrorist group she had been part of for seven very long years

*In case you have forgotten or haven't gotten the files yet I was part of a terrorist organization for seven years, I joined to keep my family safe but that's all you're learning about that aspect and why I was with the group. Now then as I was saying I was part of that group for seven years and we attacked multiple countries and multiple targets in said countries, and there were times when we needed to bypass a security system to understand our targets. As such we were taught the art of slight of hand, basically we were taught how to steal security badges, sometimes we stole a wallet due to the fact that just a badge wouldn't be enough and needed a special card as well, though bio-locks and key entries were ignored. We were also taught the art of disguises so that we could make quick escapes at need, and that's not counting my family situation who also taught me some of those things for my own safety. As such I want you to think about what I have just said and if you still don't understand what happened I will tell you in plain simple words*

*You pick pocketed me when you supposedly bumped into me by accident and you were good enough that I didn't notice it*

*Exactly, I used the skills I have learned to pickpocket you, now I have a question for you, why are you smoking at work when you know full well that isn't allowed?*

*Hey as far as I know it's not illegal*

*Technically speaking it's not, however I know full well you were told when I started living with Masaki-san that whenever I was at the station smoking wouldn't be allowed, and since I come here pretty much daily that means that until you are at home there is no smoking happening for you*

*How long have you been breaking the rule?*

*Since basically the beginning due to the fact that quite frankly I don't think having one kid constantly around means we have to change rules about smoking*

Masaki however had heard enough and realized that this was an officer who obviously hadn't been paying attention or was absentminded enough to forget information he didn't deem important about work polices and took over for Clair

*And if you had been properly paying attention to the full debrief I had given everyone you would have known that the smoking rule is a security and safety reason, which is still in effect, especially after the recent arson's only a few months ago*

*But Masaki...*

*No officer, I think you need to relearn a few things before being allowed to go back out on patrol or work in this station*

The officer decides that he wouldn't listen though and yells at Masaki instead

*I don't believe you in regards to the fact that there's good reasons! I think you and the child are making things up to force smokers to stop smoking and further more..*

The very stupid officer was suddenly forced to be quiet though by Clair using tape on his mouth

*How many times do I have to repeat myself officer?,  _I was part of a terrorist group for seven years_ , as such I know how to use the cigarettes and lighter to devastating accuracy in causing chaos, now then in normal circumstances I wouldn't even think about causing trouble, but if I had good reason, I would very easily and quickly use these items to destroy buildings and possibly kill people in a matter of minutes*


	12. Chapter 12

The officer was still taped at the mouth but the glare he was giving Clair clearly meant he wasn't believing her story which made Clair physically sigh realizing that this officer would have to be shown something that no one had ever seen before, something so secret that it was only known to her and the world governments, to be revealed at need to keep terrorist charges from being put on her, and only she could declare when an exception had to be made and she realized that this was one such time because while the taped officer was the most disbelieving of the group a few of the younger officers were also not quite believing how much destruction she could cause it so little time, though they believed that she was part of the terrorist group and could ultimately do serious damage, they didn't think it would take only a few minutes, more like a few hours at the very least to a few days, but at least they did believe she was capable of doing damage so that was something in her mind

*Okay I need to make a few calls, can you officers stay here for a bit? There's something I need delivered here that requires your attention as soon as it arrives*

*Very well, we'll keep an eye on Ichiro for you though*

*Thanks, Masaki, can I use the phone in your office?*

*Of course*

Clair uses the phone in Winspector headquarters to make a very important phone call

*This is Clair Kerenai, asking for video files K-110-117 sent to the police station that Winspector is based in*

*Kerenai, is this an exception being made?*

*Yes, I have some officers that won't understand just how dangerous I am without said video*

*How did that topic come up?*

*I swiped a lighter and cigarettes from an officer who has been breaking the rule from the beginning, now then that officer is the most disbelieving but I also have a few who don't believe just how quickly I can cause damage with just those two items, though they do believe I can cause the damage I say I can they think it will still take me a few hours to a few days instead of just minutes*

*And they need to know and understand the truth just in case you are ever forced to do something like what you did for seven years again*

*Exactly, because even our best attempts might not completely prevent me from causing damage and killing as few innocents as I can to save more innocents*

*I hate it when you're in a lose-lose situation*

*Same here*

*Okay the video files should be there in about fifteen minutes, fully subtitled, and Kerenai, we're thinking that maybe you should also look at the video files as well since you don't clearly remember your first year and only came out of the drug induced haze near the end of your second year*

*No, and I have a very good reason not to this time*

*Oh?*

*Because of the fact that I made copies and finally, alongside Masaki and the therapist watched the video files during the time two Winspector officers went undercover and were thought dead*

*Okay, so you know what happened then during those two years you were drugged since you remember the other five years*

*Exactly*

The video files come and the officer see Clair being drugged daily for the first year and being taught only basic self defense which she already knew. The second year the drugs frequency decreased while she was taught more advanced skills like bomb making. The other five files showed her doing terrorist jobs around the world proving that yes, she could indeed cause massive chaos and destruction in only minutes with just a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. They also saw that the personality that they knew was not the personality she had during those seven years, that time period was her being completely cold to everyone around her, not caring about damage. But they also realized it was a fake personality, her true personality was a caring person, who was cold against criminals, but not cold in the way she was with the terrorists, it was a different cold, a calculating cold that was just her saying she didn't care for what they were doing, but that she did care they didn't get hurt worse than absolutely necessary in a fight. Once the video files were over they stared at the TV in shock for a few moments and then finally, the idiot who broke the rules in the first place spoke up seeing as how Clair had come in during the sixth video file and simply stayed for the rest knowing that there were likely going to be a few questions

*I'm sorry I didn't believe you or obey the rules...what...what did the terrorists do to you? I know for a fact that the personality that you have now, the personality when you first came to us and the personality on the video files are completely different*

*Ah so you were here in the initial days then after I got out of the hospital and the truth about me had been revealed to the EDC* (sighs) *For the most part they simply tried to make me forget why I was ultimately doing in joining them which was protecting my family, there were a few times when they did their own interrogation training that they hurt me physically, hoping I would either break or prove just how loyal I was to their cause not knowing the truth. I was scared that I would be discovered so many times and ultimately I developed PTSD, but it's not severe enough to keep me from the military or police if I should choose to join. What you saw in the video was the personality I developed to keep me safe, what you saw when I first was free was the personality I had at the time I joined the terrorists times three, I was a very scared young person when I joined the terrorists, but I had to put that fear aside to protect everyone. The personality you see now is my true personality, the one that developed over time where my past with the terrorists, my past with my family and now have truly blended*

*Actually in some ways she's still just a kid*

*Masaki...*

*I'm talking about your childlike wonder sometimes when you discover something new about the world around you, something you didn't get to see while with the terrorists or your family for whatever reason*

*In that respect I hope everyone remains a kid*

Suddenly a police officer quietly talks to Masaki and Clair waits to find out more

"Clair there's someone who is twelve and claims to be an EDC kid and that's all we're getting out of him besides the fact that he was abducted, and we're barely able to get that far since we have someone who speaks English besides us"

"Let's see who it is then"

They go down to a room that is normally used for interrogations but can also quickly be converted to calming a victim down (this had been done in the early days of Clair staying in Japan when it was realized that she would be at the police station often and would sometimes need a spot not in Winspector headquarters to calm down at)

"I know him, his name is Jean Pierre and last I knew he still lives in France, you won't be able to understand us without a translator since I am going to speak French to him"

"What are you going to do and how do you know him?"

"I am going to sing him a song that I was taught as a child, it's a song my family made up and sang for me in Cybertronian, I simply translated it to the different languages that I know, and all EDC kids were told I could change words in the song to fit the situation so it doesn't confuse them when I use different words each time. I know him because while he lives in France his family would always come to America in the summer, I haven't seen him since I was five. I was recently told that unless they were a certain age when I left at age ten no one in the EDC is told the truth of why I left until they are eighteen, the only exception was when I returned and the truth discovered, if they were seventeen at the time they were told the truth as well. Now then like I said unless something has changed in the last seven years last I knew he lived in France, but due to parental work his family came to America every summer, and he actually has relatives living in Canada so they also know Canadian French, now can I go help calm him down?"

"Yes"

Clair goes in and immediately starts singing

*Hey it's okay, you're in safe hand I am here, I know that you're scared and that's alright, you can be scared I am here. I know that you don't know these people but that's okay, they are police and that means you're safe, I will stay with you, help you through this, those with me are the most trustworthy I promise you. It's okay to be confused, I will help you find your family if you let me, I will work until you're reunited. Let the officers help and let me in, I promise you we will help if you let us*

Pierre looks up and sees Clair and remembers the song she used to sing for him when he was younger. Due to everything going on no one under eighteen, or at the time Clair left the terrorists seventeen, were told the truth about why Clair was no longer around, instead they were told that Clair had something to take care of on Cybertron and that until it was resolved she would be living with some family that lived on the planet of their robotic allies. Now that Clair was no longer with the terrorists anyone seventeen and up could know the truth, however everyone younger than that was still protected from where Clair really was for their own safety, and Pierre was stressed enough and as such spoke French immediately

*Clair when did you get back from Cybertron?*

*Almost a year now, but that story is for later, for now can you trust me to find a safe place for you to stay until further notice, and can you tell me why you are here without your parents in the first place?*

*I don't know where I am or how I got here, one minute I was heading to...a lesson and the next I am in a strange place with strange people*

*Okay I have it from here, you won't be able to understand me temporarily, but you will if we speak English right?*

*Yes*

*Okay that's all I need to know*

Clair switches back to Japanese

*Masaki can Pierre stay with you for a bit?*

*What for?*

*He doesn't know how he got here and we need to find his parents*

*Wouldn't it be better for him to be at the EDC base?*

*That's right you don't know, the EDC base is under lock down until further notice, no one can get on or off the base due to a security issue, and while due to being my guardian you have more clearance than most officers you still aren't told everything about the base unlike me who is an EDC kid, and by the way Pierre doesn't know how he got here, but he does trust me to keep him safe and that means staying with you until further notice*

*Does this mean you living alone isn't happening yet?*

*Don't know yet, first we need to get Pierre settled into your place*

*Okay we'll also start trying to find out if anything happened to his parents and their current whereabouts*

*Try America first, if that fails go to France*

*And if both of those fail?*

*I don't know, in the meantime I myself will try their relatives in Canada*

*Do those Canadian relatives know the truth about you?*

*Yes, who do you think managed to keep Canada out of the fiery bid that was going on when I was initially released from the hospital and the truth was discovered?*

*No way, there is no way they are that high up in authority*

*Um...not technically speaking...but there is something about Pierre's Canadian relatives that I know about that isn't advertised for safety reasons, and as such without express permission can't be revealed*

Five hours later Pierre was asleep in the Winspector office due to everyone else having decided it was best to simply have everyone there for the time being (Clair having decided to hold off on leaving for an apartment until the Pierre situation was resolved one way or another) and they were all frustrated

"Okay, I have called over fifteen EDC bases in France and America so far and no such luck, Clair have you managed to call Pierre's Canadian relatives yet?"

"Not yet, I was going to when that...issue popped up that I had to deal with immediately"

"Right forgot about that, but what I want to know is why is it taking five hours for that issue to be resolved?"

"Don't ask me I have no clue as to why that is, now if you'll excuse me I have people in Canada to call, so don't expect to understand me for a bit"

Fifteen minutes later Clair doesn't quite slam the phone down into the receiver but they could definitely tell she wasn't happy with the result of the phone call

"Okay that's it I am calling the Japanese EDC base period the end of it and getting some answers"

(Sighs) "let me guess Pierre's parent's aren't there"

"Exactly, this is a very, very frustrating situation right now, Pierre's Canadian relatives are rightfully demanding any news about his parent's as soon as we know anything so that they can know if they need to take Pierre into their immediate care. They are fine with him staying with you for now though Masaki-san since the EDC base here is on lock down and I trust you with my life"

"Shall we wake him up then?"

"Yes, and the experiment will be temporarily put on hold for a few days depending on the EDC base situation"

"He needs you doesn't he?"

"Oh yeah"

Before Clair called the base though Masaki asked Clair a question that was valid

"So when you do take the equivalent of our GED test, even if you decide to stay in school you might do better than we thought?"

"Yes, I ad-hocked my education while in France, I will explain everything later but basically since I know Canadian French, if I am ever in France again I can order my own food, act like a tourist and shop properly, ask for directions to any location and if need be as for an official translator"

"What do you mean?"

"I may know French, with some slight differences but whenever you are dealing with police, fire or medical personnel you need official translators, more for police and medical personnel, but there are occasions where fire departments need a translator as well. And if I pass the test I will be staying in school for socialization reasons"

"Okay, call the base, we'll discuss school in more detail later"

The group understood the conversation Clair had since it was done in English but they gave her a semblance of privacy for the phone call since most of the Winspector team was not technically cleared to hear anything in regards to the EDC, Masaki had the most clearance but like Clair had pointed out earlier even he wasn't cleared on everything unlike her since she was an EDC kid

*Commander, the kid should get something to eat once he's awake, shall I go out and get everyone some food?*

*Sure Ryoma, however be careful about how much you get due to the fact that Clair may not be able to eat when we do and the kid might not be very hungry if he was drugged to make him cooperative*

*Right, I'll also make sure that for the kid I get something light to eat*

Three hours later Clair was finished with her phone call and everyone but her had gotten a meal, when she put the phone down everyone could tell that she was mentally exhausted

*So what's the verdict?*

*The base is still on lock down, however they have confirmed that Pierre's parents aren't there either, as such we have no clue where they currently are, our only hope is that they make a report with an EDC base and that report is sent to all other EDC bases on earth, once that is done the base here can alert the proper people that Pierre is currently in your care and either his parents or a representative can pick him up so that he can go home where he belongs*

*Question, you mentioned his Canadian relatives wanting to claim custody at need, but he's a French citizen, why doesn't he have any relatives in France that can take care of him?*

*From what I understand when I was told his situation shortly before everything that I had to go through on the mother's side her family disowned her a year after Pierre was born due to the fact that not only did she not have permission to marry her husband but while they could overlook that they could not overlook the child that she had, especially because she was told it was a high risk pregnancy from the doctor due to health issues, and if that wasn't enough apparently she also refused to do a few other things including a divorce. On the father's side while he does have relatives in France they are physically unable to take care of him, either because of health issues or because there is literally no living space available, though they would fortunately have the monetary means to take care of him the other issues make it impossible for him to live in France if he's lost his parents, his father's brother moved to Canada when he was old enough to strike out on his own and while he isn't the richest person he also has the ability to take care of his nephew since they have a slightly bigger living space available to them there, oh and if the brother has trouble a cousin is also in Canada to help take care of Pierre*

*Okay then everything now makes sense*

*Actually now I have a question, if Pierre has relatives to take care of him why did the Cybertronians have to take care of you when your parents died?*

(Sighs) *I was wondering if you were ever going to ask that Ryoma, Masaki knows due to the fact that he has to know as my legal guardian. As you know the Cybertronians have been taking care of me since I was a very young age due to the living will of my parents, now then like you probably know the courts try and keep kids out of the foster system by placing them with family whenever possible, when that isn't possible then and only then are they placed into the foster system, even if there is a will left behind by the parents it could take several months for the will to be found and executed, especially when it comes to young kids so that the courts have a chance to find any relatives that are willing and able to take the kids in. That's basically what happened to me, I was temporarily put into the foster system so that the courts could try and find any family willing and able to take me in before they executed my parent's will in regards to where I was to ultimately end up. My grandparents on both sides of the family had actually died before I was born, my paternal grandparents had died shortly after mom and dad married due to an accident, while my maternal grandparents died due to health issues that they had, my grandma dying from cancer while my grandfather died from a stroke. My mom was an only child while my dad was the youngest of three kids, unfortunately my aunt at the time was unwilling to take me in for reasons that remained unknown until shortly before I turned nine while my uncle had completely disappeared until right before I left my Cybertronian family. For my aunt it turned out that she was dealing with health problems on her own and didn't want to possibly make me completely homeless due to her being unable to properly take care of herself and me at the same time. As for my uncle it turned out that he was initially in the military in the special forces, unfortunately while on furlough one time he witnessed something that forced him to fake his death with his superiors*(due to just how classified he was his superiors could never make his death public knowledge and as such made everything harder in regards to figuring out where he was) *and he went into deep hiding, even going to far as to almost go into witness protection, but he ultimately didn't due to just how dangerous the people after him were. He temporarily left his hiding spot once he knew about my parents and finally revealed everything to the government, but he decided this time to officially go into witness protection and I haven't heard about him since due to the fact that he didn't want me to also be in witness protection if it could be helped, though he was prepared to take me in if there were no other alternatives. Once that was established the courts read my parents will and I was given to the Cybertronians to care for, though for the first several years they made sure to have an EDC officer with them at all times to help care for me*

*So basically Pierre is in the same situation you were in at the time*

*There are differences, but yes he is currently in a similar situation*

*How long until Pierre is sent to his Canadian relatives?*

*The current arrangement will last three days past the base lock down, once the lock down is over and the three days have passed everything will be reassessed and further decisions about Pierre will be made then*

As it turned out the base would last for a solid week, after that it was discovered two days later that Pierre would live with his Canadian relatives because Pierre's parents had been found the day after the lock down was over with, the problem was that they had been discovered murdered. It would take time but it would turn out that Pierre's parents had been looking into a criminal organization in France and continued their work during their annual summer switch to the United States, when they realized that the organization was closing in they actually decided to send Pierre away for his own safety and had friends drug him and take him out of country, the only rules laid out were that Pierre was not to be taken to Canada until there was assurance that the family there was not targeted, that he could quickly get to safety once he woke up and didn't recognize anyone and escaped (he was being watched in that scenario to make sure he remained safe) and that there had to be at least one EDC base in the vicinity. It was purely bad timing that the base went into lock down at the same time that Pierre needed the base for safety, fortunately he was taught to recognize police uniforms for all countries and simply followed a bike officer back to the station


	13. Chapter 13

*Clair can you now explain how Pierre's Canadian relatives managed to keep that country out of the bid for you to live there?*

*Since they are probably going to be sending Pierre here at times to allow him a chance to be a kid or for his own safety at times yes I can tell you. His uncle is actually a member of the security forces for the government of Canada and when foreign delegates are in country, basically you can compare him to a member of the United States Secret Service with some small differences, his aunt is also a government worker, she works as a firefighter and as such she isn't quite as high a security risk or danger as his uncle, however her firefighter job can also be high profile since she mostly does arson investigation with actual shifts every month and that can make her a target as well, though not as much as his uncle, their kids are all still in school minus the oldest and he's actually studying to be a nurse while another one is thinking about becoming a veterinarian, though they haven't actually decided yet. As for the cousin, he himself is also a security danger but not as much since his primary job within the government is as a social worker, but he has been targeted for that exact reason before, thus the reason why he might be sent here on occasion for his own safety*

*Hopefully Canada gives him to the cousin with the least security risk in regards to danger*

*Most likely, but it's ultimately up to Canada to decide where he'll end up, but at least he's going to be with family*

*Yes, that is indeed the most important part...um he does know the aunt, uncle, and his father's cousin right?*

*Yes, he even knows his aunt and uncle's kids too, how to invite them in without being rude or riling them up further*

*So how did those jobs play into keeping Canada out of the bid for you to live there?*

*The uncle mainly through whispering into the right ears that maybe me staying in Japan was the best thing for me since I escaped the terrorist group there and I trusted Winspector since I sent information to you guys, he said that if I trusted you guys that much to try and end things in Japan maybe it was best that I stay put until I was more stable emotionally at the very least and let my family make the decisions once I was at the point where we could discuss if I should move or not*

*Okay, oh, who identified them?*

*The French relatives identified them, originally it was supposed to be the Canadian relatives but, well, the Canadian had their reasons to let the French relatives identify them*

*So when and where are they going to pick him up?*

*At least three days from now at the EDC base, if only for security reasons in regards to reporters, the three days is so that the family can arrange emergency leave from their jobs, it shouldn't be too hard but they need to make that request and make sure that the kids are taken care of before coming over to Japan since Canada is currently having school right now*

*Okay then, how about you let Pierre know the plan and we'll get some food to feed him and then have a private memorial since I am sure we've missed the funeral*

*Yes, we will remember his family respectfully this ways, and he does need the chance to mourn before going to Canada, or at least the chance to begin the mourning period*

*Clair, do you need a fight afterwords?*

*Yes, I could do with a spar, but not against training robots, or regular officers, Bikel, I am challenging you to a spar after Pierre is gone, so that means before I live on my own, or at least try to*

A few days later Bikel and Clair had their spar and it was intense, once the spar was over Clair tried to live on her own but only managed a month before she ultimately couldn't handle it anymore and went back to living with Masaki like before

"Clair what happened? I thought you were ready to live on your own"

"So did I Ryoma, turns out that I'm not quite as ready as we thought I was, and I already know the issue too"

"So what's the problem this time?"

"Turns out that I still have a bit of a problem being by myself after being forced to live with the terrorists for seven years, it has to do with the fact that I have PTSD. I sometimes had trouble sleeping and do you guys remember the store next to my apartment?"

"The one that had the gas leak?"

"Yep, the explosion set me off and it took the fire department two hours to calm me down enough to go back into said apartment, and that was with their own doctors helping them"

"So will you ever be able to live by yourself?"

"That I don't know, I might be able to eventually but as of now that is not a possibility"

"What about the person in charge of the apartment?"

"He already knew we were on a month by month lease until told otherwise so there were no problems in regards to me leaving after only a month"

"So two months before you're legally an adult huh?"

"Yep" (thinks) " _soon Masaki-san, soon you will learn the full truth that my family and I have been working on for several months now_ "

_Months earlier_

"Prowl, do you think things will go well with this?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Well it's just...it's just that I'm wondering what my birth parents would think about these petitions I am putting forth"

"Clair, did you know that if you had been forced to leave for you own safety, the people who would have become your legal guardians also would have filed for adoption after a time?"

"No I didn't"

"Well that would have been the case, and they would have done so with our blessing, and that includes the name change, Clair, you will always be known as Clair Kerenai, or Clair of Cybertron, but if both petitions go through you will also be considered as part of another family, and if you were younger it would have been expected that your name would be legally changed, if only for your protection depending on how young you were"

"However, this is a choice he has to make himself, and he's only going to know the first part initially, the second part he's going to find out through the courts"

"True, but since you are going to legally be an adult that's to be expected"

"And you're sure this is all legal?"

"Yes, we made sure it was internationally legal when you were still a baby since we've always known about the possibility of you having to leave us for your own safety, even when you got old enough to understand, we still made sure it was legal so that you would have a choice as well depending on your age at the time"

"What about when I...I did what I did at age ten?"

"Even then since we figured something was up the Primes made sure it would remain legal, and once the truth was discovered all lawmakers also made sure that what almost happened when you joined the terrorists would never actually happen"

"Now it's up to him to decide once I turn eighteen"

"Exactly"

_Present_

*Clair, are you listening?*

*Sorry Masaki, I wasn't, what were you saying?*

*That there are some firefighters who want to talk to you about the incident a few weeks ago*

*Again?*

*Yes, but they don't mind us being with you if you want*

*Yes, I do want Winspector involved, I think...I think there might be something going on that they are only just figuring out and need my help with, and if it gets into police matters I want you guys already with me and fully debriefed*

Five minutes later almost everyone looked like they were going to be sick, the only exceptions were naturally Bikel, Walter and Demitasse, and surprisingly Clair was also handling the video file pretty well, she looked upset at what the video was showing but otherwise seemed fine

*I'm sorry everyone, we didn't get a chance to fully watch the video, as soon as we realized it was in connection to the fire a few weeks ago we figured Clair should watch this to probably help us figure things out since she's helped in arson investigations before*

*It's fine, I've actually seen worse all things considered, but that pattern...I think I know that pattern however...*

Clair didn't finish her sentence provoking one of the investigators to speak up

*What is it Kerenai?*

(Sighs) *I need to make a call and a copy of the video file to confirm something, if it's what I think it is...well it's not good to say the least*

Two hours later Clair comes back from her errand and everyone could tell that she wasn't too happy about whatever it was she had dealt with

*Inspectors I'm afraid you're officially off the case for safety reasons, Masaki, you and Winspector aren't going to fare much better, but you can do more good then them considering you're my legal guardian for another two months and besides that we need your police credentials for this*

*What's going on Clair?*

Clair though deliberately switches to English, despite a rule that had been placed on her for a very, very long time stating that if there were other officials from either another police station or another organization that didn't speak English she was to speak Japanese until they left, however there was one exception to the rule that had never come into play until then and that exception was security reasons

"Terrorists, however there are two problems at the moment, the first off is that this specific group is based in France and as of yet have not branched out to other countries, the other problem is that I thought I saw Koronians which makes this an EDC matter, especially because of what I know about Koronians when I was last around them at age nine"

"Fine, we'll get started on this later, for now we have to finish what little of the investigation we can for these fire investigators"

"Right"

Fortunately it only took about another five minutes before the fire investigators were ready to hand things off to Winspector officially, the only reason they even backed off was that once the group switched back to Japanese Masaki had told them that due to some new information they were being given everything was considered a police matter and as such didn't involve them which was partially the truth but not all of it, and Winspector knew better than to think they would ever be told all of it

"Well, actually I might make an exception"

"Oh?"

"Yeah, lately my Cybertronian family has been discussing what would happen if a terrorist group like I was with for seven years ever started doing these attacks and the police investigating these arson's were killed, now then nothing officially has been decided yet but there might be a new division within both the fire department and the EDC involving both groups being a liaison to each other, but in the meantime I have certain authority to authorize anyone finding out information I deem necessary for a mission or safety, and if something goes wrong I am considering making an exception and allowing those investigators to know the truth about the fire next to the apartment I was living in for a month"

"We'll have to take a wait and see approach I guess, for now though, you need to eat and then get some sleep, or did you think I haven't noticed your sleeping pattern recently?"

"Okay, I won't even fight you on this for two reasons, first off you're right, I am down right exhausted, and the second reason is because quite frankly I know exactly what you can do to make me get sleep"

"Yes you do"

Two weeks later things still weren't resolved in regards to the fire investigation, but little did they know they were about to get a big clue as to why the Koronians were involved, because after Clair had gotten sleep she had explained her confusing statement about Koronians. The Koronians were a relatively peaceful race that had trading agreements with her family and thus the EDC, the only time they were dangerous was if they were attacked and since everyone is dangerous when attacked in order to defend themselves it's only natural that the race is no longer peaceful until their planet is safe once more. Clair knew that trade agreements were still good between the Koronians and her family since she had checked with her family before making her report to Winspector and as such everyone was confused as to what was going on and the silence of the planet they were from only made the confusion worse and also some worry was added in regards to the EDC

*Clair, you and Walter need to go to the store, there's some stuff at the house we need that are not perishables and also do you remember the officer I told you about soon after you were initially released from the hospital?*

*Yes, they had gone missing and were getting close to the time of being presumed dead, but since that day I haven't heard anything since you've been keeping me out of those information circles so that I could focus on my own recovery*

*Turns out they were alive, hurt badly enough to wind up in a coma and when they came to they had amnesia, they've been spending the last six months regaining their skills, strength and memories and have just been cleared to return to duty last week and today is their first day of duty since they went missing and as such...*

*There's a welcome back party being held and we've been asked to supply some of the food and drinks*

*Exactly*

*Do they know about me?*

*Only the basic things that all police officers are cleared to know about you*

*OK just making sure we aren't confusing him with my presence*

*Clair are you okay with being forced to go with Walter?*

*I'm fine Ryoma, not only are we currently dealing with the rule of two ever since it was established that there are terrorists involved, but I need the extra hands anyways to get everything back to the station, actually can Hisako also come with?*

*Sure*

An hour later they were heading back to the station when suddenly they heard a commotion and with two of the group police officers and one an EDC kid they instantly decided to check it out and Clair instantly noticed actual EDC officers and they were the ones giving instructions naturally in Japanese

*Everyone keep back, officers get those civilians away from here*

"I'm Clair Kerenai and this is Walter and Koyama Hisako, we can help"

"Kerenai we've got Koronians, as I'm sure you're aware they've been acting weird lately"

"Oh yeah I'm aware"

"Turns out they're under someone else's control"

"You sure?"

"Positive, red eyes and one officer managed to get close enough to detect an earpiece and you know what those two combined mean"

"Trouble, because the red eyes indicate that they've been drugged and the earpiece means they're being given orders while under the influence of said drugs"

"Exactly, which means they're not to blame in regards to their part in the fire a month and a half ago"

"Right, for now though...back me up because I'm going in"

Clair's eye's turn hazel and she suddenly has a knife in her right hand naturally with a reverse grip

"And for the record, Winspector all know English so if need be Walter and Koyama-san both will understand any orders given, and while they understand that EDC is in charge in these situations make sure that they actually understand any orders given in regards to what you want them to do because they do not know EDC tactics"

Clair then runs towards the enemy and fifteen minutes later the battle was over with, the end result being that Clair was injured slightly and definitely very dirty while the Koronians were also looking quite a bit roughed up and also definitely no longer under enemy control

"So what caused you guys to attack us anyways? I know you were under enemy control but who exactly managed to do that and is the whole planet under enemy control?"

"Quintessons were the ones who had us under there control, and no the whole planet is not under Quintesson control but at the same time they have to remain silent because of threats from the Quintessons"

"Understood, I'll pass that on to the EDC for you guys, in the meantime I would seek temporary refuge in another country with the EDC, while the EDC here would do their best to protect you from any Japanese wanting retaliation I don't want the Quintessons to find out that you're free and leaving Japan would do that the best because I'm sure you guys have orders from them"

"Yes we do, the terrorist group was only under Quintesson control for that one mission by the way so that we could do damage alongside them without any disguises needed"

"Okay, now then get to the EDC base and they'll get you to another safe location soon"

"Right"

Clair goes over to where Walter and Hisako currently were


	14. Chapter 14

*We are so late it isn't even funny*

*No we're not, more police were called into action during the fight and as such the party has been delayed until later this evening*

*Fine, by the way after the party I have some explaining to do in regards to who we just fought*

*Got some answers then?*

*Yep, but we do still have some trouble to deal with, but it's ordinary police trouble so you'll be fine if I don't get involved any further*

They get back to the station and eventually have the welcome back party which had been deemed a success and then suddenly things turned serious due to the fact that a video marked urgent was delivered to the station and everyone at the party decided to watch it since it could affect more than one department and once the video started Masaki was the first to speak up

*Kagesawa!*

The video quickly ended with the (apparent though they are not yet aware of this) death of Kagesawa and then Clair speaks up, unfortunately her anger is so great that she doesn't speak Japanese and also doesn't speak English instead she's angry enough to slip into Cybertronian, though everyone could tell by the growl she let out and the tone of voice that she wasn't too happy

*They're mince meat when I get my hands on them, I didn't spend seven years with a terrorist group just for this to happen when I was freed*

*Uh, Clair, can you repeat what you just said I couldn't understand you*

"I said they're mince meat when I get my hands on those creeps, and why couldn't you understand me?"

"Easy I do believe you slipped into Cybertronian you're that angry"

"Oh...that would do it"

"Yes it would, and quite frankly I agree with you in regards to the fact that they are going down when we can get them, but they are going down legally"

"Oh, I have no problems doing it legally, but if they attack and I have to fight them I am going to fight them and you know full well death sometimes happens, mostly it isn't intentional but there are times the enemy is fighting hard enough that I have no choice"

"We know, if you have to fight them it's still legal in regards to a take down, however never even think about pushing to the edge"

"No problem"

"By the way we're going to recover Kagesawa when we can"

"Oh I was already making those plans as well, do we have an idea of where he was killed?"

"MADDOX can find out soon enough"

Two days later they arrive at the site where Kagesawa was killed, unfortunately they discovered that his remains were not there, and as such they assumed that the group moved his remains to another location

*Okay, we keep looking for his remains then, in the meantime you guys have your connections to use for the terrorist group while I myself will help in any way possible that you will let me*

*Okay then, that's what we'll do, and Clair I might be sending you out on a regular basis to look for his remains*

*Works for me*

*But you are also going to be my temporary liaison to the EDC*

*Why can't you contact them yourself right now?*

*Because we've got a rookie EDC officer who has gotten cocky, and I heard this from a Cybertronian called Ultra Magnus himself, he knows I am your guardian, he knows that even once you are legal age I will have the clearance I currently have, he even knows the contact system in Japan, however due to the fact that several higher up authorities have been busy lately they've had junior members of their teams make contact and the EDC officer is denying said contact just because he can apparently*

*Right, it's happened before, if retraining on the job doesn't work they're fired, for most officers the problem is they don't understand why people lower in the hierarchy are making the calls others should be, mostly due to what they are taught in regards to the social structure of another country, in America it's not that big a problem because they're told flat out that there are going to be times that aides will make the phone calls instead, if that isn't the case the first step afterwords is transferring them back to America to try and get them straightened out, if that doesn't work that's the point they get fired because the retraining happens both in the country they are making the mistake and also America if it appears that they are struggling in said country*

*But if they're struggling in the country they've been assigned...*

Masaki stops though at Clair shaking her head and realizes the seriousness nature of what she's trying to explain due to the fact that she switches to English with a Japanese officer actually with them due to the fact that the area was large enough that it was decided three people would search the building and surrounding area

"Sorry Masaki-san, but you misunderstand me, it isn't just them struggling with the hierarchy that the retraining will get them transferred back to the United States, it's also if they are struggling with actually understanding the language and social structure of said country since lower officials don't typically learn English like higher officials do"

"Oh I get it, they're transferred back to America for retraining because it's obvious that they weren't fully trained for the country they were transferred to and that might be why they are having such a problem understanding why those lower in rank are making the calls instead"

"Exactly"

"Can I assume that if it's discovered that they were properly trained they're flat out fired?"

"Yep"

The group then heads back to the police station. They soon realize that Clair has only a month and a half left before she turns eighteen (and would spring two surprises on Masaki, but since that part was a surprise and secret no one knew that Clair was making special plans) and started making plans to celebrate in earnest whenever she wasn't around. It wasn't that they wanted to surprise her, it was more the fact that in all honesty they simply wanted some privacy in making the plans and with Clair being declared the leader in the search for Kagesawa's remains it was easier to make those party plans whenever she wasn't around so that they weren't constantly interrupted in figuring out what food they wanted besides the usual cake, the decorations if any and who would get her what in regards to presents, part of the reason they were doing this was because this was actually the first birthday she'd have in seven years that wasn't spent being fearful of her true allegiance being discovered, being surrounded by friends and who she considered family, but the other part was because quite frankly they also wanted to properly celebrate her becoming an adult of legal age in America because in America while some didn't make a big deal out of much of turning eighteen, eighteen was huge for Americans because it meant they had the legal right to cast votes, they also transitioned out of high school and into college or the work force depending on many factors and just considered an adult in general, as such when you combine the two reasons together it meant that they wanted the party to be special and meaningful to her and most of the regular police just didn't understand the importance of her age. That didn't mean she wasn't aware of the party that was going to happen because they did involve her very slightly whenever she and Masaki were both at home, those parts were mainly what kind of cake and ice cream she wanted and also the fact if it was just one party or if she would have two, one for Winspector and one for the EDC

*Clair, what do you think about getting one of your gifts early*

*What do you mean Masaki?*

*Well...you haven't officially been given a license again to shoot and have weapons right? I was thinking that since you don't have that long until you turn eighteen you might want yours back, and with you being an EDC kid it's allowed too*

*That's true but...*

*Clair, people have known the truth for a long time now, almost a year from what I can count, it's time for you to regain something long lost to you*

Clair thinks about what Masaki had said knowing that what he was saying was true. EDC kids were allowed to get their license to bare arms and shoot other people's weapons at age eight. When Clair had been forced to join said group she had lost her license immediately because while her family trusted she had her reasons even they couldn't prevent her from losing many EDC kid privileges When Clair had come back and the truth revealed all her privileges were returned except the right to bare arms, but that was a safety issue more than anything because they weren't sure if she was safe to handle weapons initially, even when it was revealed she was using her powers she still wasn't given her weapons permit back because she was somewhat shy still in handling a gun. Back when she was shooting and had been poisoned that had been part of her reintegration training and at the time it had been decided she wasn't quite ready to once more bare arms, but now months later she was indeed ready to have a weapons permit again and also weapons, and that was what was being offered to her early

*We only have two weeks left, I can wait that long, besides it's probably best I don't have a permit yet, there's a location I want to check out and if I have a weapon on me it could potentially get dangerous*

*What for?*

*I think it might be the main hideout of the terrorist group in Japan, but I don't know for sure yet, thus I need to check it out but if I am captured and have a weapon on me it would be too dangerous as you well know from your reports*

*Backup?*

*Will be there but if I go inside they have a specific signal that they are to wait for before going in*

*Okay, just...keep yourself safe*

*Don't worry Masaki, I know what I am doing*

*I know that, I know what you've been through, more so than most officers do, but since you've been put into my care I worry about you, and care for you as well, you've become someone special to me*

*I understand Masaki, but for now I have a location to check out*

Clair leaves Winspector headquarters and with backup heads to the location she mentioned, when she looked inside she saw the terrorist group and then a person tied up against a beam

*OK I need to go inside and free someone, wait here like ordered, if you receive my signal rush in guns blazing, don't worry I can protect myself and the person inside easily, if you see anyone trying to leave, quietly take them out so that the people inside aren't alerted to our presence*

*Right, any other orders you got for us?*

*Not at the moment, except to improvise at need*

Clair manages to sneak into the building through an open window and even manages to get past the guards with the help of some small animals in the area using them as decoys for any noises she made. She finally got close enough to the person tied up and as soon as she got a good look she is shocked at who it is and mentally declares her shock


	15. Chapter 15

(Thinks) " _impossible, Kagesawa-san is dead, we saw the video personally_ "

Clair manages to get over her shock just enough to check for a pulse and is surprised to find one, very sluggish but definitely there which let her know that she wasn't seeing things and that Kagesawa was actually alive after having been thought dead for almost a month or so now (time was starting to blur together with her at the moment since she was pretty busy non stop in trying to find Kagesawa's remains, she barely stopped to eat sometimes and she took one to two hour naps to keep her functional, except once when she was hospitalized for an injury, the doctors literally used light sedation on her for a minor procedure and she was out for two days she was that exhausted)

(Whispering to herself) "right I need to get him out of here and to the hospital all without being discovered...let's see what do I have that can help me?"

Clair looks around and doesn't see much at the moment to help her get him untied (Kagesawa was actually tied up with chains) quietly and she knew that she would be slower with him but at the same time she knew she could use the entire ground area of the building if need be to succeed in her goal

(Whispers) *I don't know if you can hear me Kagesawa, but I am going to get you out of these chains in just...a moment*

Clair stops her attempts because of the fact that with the shadow behind her she knew she was busted. As such she quickly turned around and came up fighting, but unfortunately her opponent had two things going for them, they were big in regards to muscle and height and they also had pretty much caught her by surprise and as such were already prepared for a counter attack as such she was quickly subdued

*Settle down or we force you like we forced this one*

Clair quickly calms down after that and then no longer understands the group because they were speaking Czech

*So do we kill them now or injure them severely and then leave them to die?*

*No clue actually, we almost killed the guy last time, made it seem like we had on video and then sent it to the police and then moved him and he still almost died on us I think, I think this time we simply leave them be and let them starve to death, either that or the guy gets an infection and dies that ways*

*So maybe we should...*

While they talked about what to do with Clair and Kagesawa Clair was assessing the current situation and was also admittedly confused about the Czech language because as far as she was aware the terrorist group was based in France, but then she paid closer attention to what she could and realized that this group was not the terrorist group Winspector was currently after, this was a different group, one that spoke at least two languages because while she didn't actually speak Czech, she had been in country just long enough to recognize it's language while with the terrorist group for seven years (she was only in country for three days, but her ability to learn languages she's immersed in after only a few months, up to a year or two depending on various factors, means that if she's in a country long enough she can at least recognize what language is being spoken even if she can't actually speak it) and as such knew that the group was new and probably not after the same thing the terrorists who attacked the building next to the apartment she lived in for a month were after, she also realized that she would probably need to signal the backup team, but first she did a quick test and realized that her bonds weren't as tight as she thought and could easily slip through them without using her powers, Kagesawa's on the other hand needed a bit more work. As she looked around the entire building again she started to get an idea that was even better than before. Before when she was making a plan that involved getting her and Kagesawa both out undetected she thought about undoing his chains and then using the ground cover to get both of them out undetected. Now though she had a different plan in mind, back when she first snuck into the building she had noticed that the building had at least two different levels to it, and as she looked up she saw that she was tied to a beam directly below a walkway. With that knowledge in hand she made a new plan of escape, but she also knew that Kagesawa was in a weakened state, and that worried her greatly. Now she didn't know what all she could do with her abilities but when she had gotten back and felt ready they had discovered that she could transfer just enough energy to keep someone awake if they were starting to drift off and they didn't want that to happen, but she didn't know what would happen if she transferred a bit of energy to someone clearly unconscious and in bad shape. But since she had no other choice she decided to slip her bonds and transfer a bit of her energy in regards to her powers to Kagesawa knowing that while it might not help it also wouldn't hurt. As she brought her powers into the picture her eyes once again turned Hazel, and she then put her right hand on Kagesawa's chest, right over his heart having learned that while her energy was transferred wherever she touched a person, if they truly needed the energy that was the best location to transfer energy to and from, they didn't know why that was but they didn't fight it the few times she had already used her abilities like this. She didn't pour a lot of energy into Kagesawa since she knew she might need all her strength and this ability actually could drain her unlike other abilities nowadays, they had noticed that when she had revealed herself to be at her highest state with her abilities. A few days after the attack on the EDC base when they confirmed Ryoma and Junko were alive after their undercover mission had gone wrong, there was actually another attack on the base while Winspector was helping with cleanup and several EDC officers had been badly injured so Clair used her powers to keep the ones that needed to stay awake awake, and that's when they had discovered that while most of her abilities no longer drained her this one did for the simple fact that she was basically transferring her life energy into another person. As such when she transferred the energy to Kagesawa she transferred just enough to notice the pull of energy and then escaped to the walkway above her

"Right, now then time to do some damage and also signal the backup team that it's time to come in"

Clair then deliberately makes noise and the group turns to where they had the two captives and that's when it was noticed that Clair had escaped, and they talked in Czech naturally

*She's escaped, where is she?*

*Hey boys up here!*

They look up and see her on the walkway and to their amazement she seemed to be just casually leaning against the railing of the walkway and waving at them without a care in the world, not realizing just how much trouble they were in and the fact that they were about to act as part of her signal to the backup waiting outside. Now then the backup waiting outside hadn't just been standing around waiting for Clair to give the signal that it was either all clear or that she needed help, because by this point in time they had a routine in place because Clair had needed help on occasion, it just wasn't always immediate that she needed the help, as such the routine was they waited outside until they heard chaos which meant loud noises for her and that meant that she needed help, if she simply called over the radio that meant that things were fine and she just needed help covering the entire area because it was too big for one person alone to check, while waiting for either signal though what they did was place guards around the perimeter, kept people from actually getting near the area for safety, and doing various things to keep them alert, whether it was checking their weapons or simply doing a basic foot patrol that didn't go very far in either direction. They also would do a quick check on the building itself, never looking in the windows if there were any, to make sure that it was a safe location meaning that if Clair needed to do anything big to get their attention it wouldn't collapse on her or those inside the building. Before the backup team came in though Clair decided to have a little fun with the group first, and also let them know where they went wrong before going to prison

*Just so you know you boys did three things wrong here, the third thing was not making sure my bindings were actually good enough to keep me in place, your second mistake was not actually keeping an eye on me to make sure I wasn't doing anything, but your first, and biggest mistake...was capturing your other prisoner and then making the police think he was dead,  _that_  is the mistake that is going to cost you your freedom more than the other two, and all I have to say is catch me if you can boys because I'm not going to be making it easy*

With that she actually starts playing with them, showing just how creative someone can be when they have seven years of practice at being creative to hide special abilities. First she simply started jumping around using the ropes and chains around her like they were vines used by Tarzan in the cartoons to get around the building, she also started setting subtle traps around the building that they would eventually trip, thus alerting the backup outside that they were needed, while still teasing them relentlessly. She actually managed to get one person to trip a pretty good trap, when the outside team heard the crashing sounds they instantly came in and noticed Clair dodging several people all at once acting like it was a game

*Guys, I'm about to snatch some keys, someone needs to grab them and then get the person tied to the beam out of here and to immediate medical attention, further instructions regarding him will be given at a later date*

With that Clair finds the person with the keys to the chain holding Kagesawa and skillfully grabs them and using two ropes manages to get the keys to the group while still dodging those after her. Once Kagesawa was free she continued to simply use her traps to eventually get the entire group into custody. Part of all of her creativity was that the traps were designed to either slow someone down, alert the group outside or capture people. While she was sneaking around unnoticed she ad-hocked several explosions and also trip wire designed to trap a person once caught, she also set up challenges on the move which made her more difficult to capture by using her powers to weaken chains or cut both the ropes and chains all together at times, while also actually activating some machinery in the building to make it that more difficult depending on several factors because some of the machinery was moving belts like on a treadmill making several of the group run until they figured out how to get off the machines which by that point they were exhausted enough to no longer chase her. Finally though the group was arrested and Clair could actually put her feet back on solid ground

*How's the person I told you to take to immediate medical treatment?*

*No clue, no updates since being told they safely made it to the hospital*

*Right, time to get to the hospital and get updates, besides the hospital is going to need to retrieve his medical records and I am the only person who knows his name at the moment*

*How come?*

*Um, part of that is just how injured they are, the other part is that all you guys know is that you're the backup team for an assignment I was given by Masaki*

*You have a point, though we've been hoping to be part of the search for Kagesawa*

The group heads to the hospital and finds the officers waiting for word as well

*Any word?*

*No, we haven't heard anything for a while now and that's kind of worrying to us*

*Where's the nurse station?, I need to inform them of the identity of the patient so that they have better medical records*

A nurse who had been near the group for just that reason speaks up

*Actually that's my purpose, what's the patient's name?*

*Ichirou Kagesawa, he's a police officer who mainly does undercover work*

*But...but Kagesawa's dead, we saw him die in the video*

*No, he's alive, barely last I knew but alive, the people we arrested, made us think he was dead but instead they probably injured him enough to cause him to pass out and then they moved to the location we found them at, it explains why we didn't find him at the initial location at the beginning of our search*

*You know in a way you could consider this an early birthday gift, finding someone you were looking for alive last you knew*

*No, this isn't going to be considered a gift, not unless he comes out of this okay*

The doctor finally comes out to reveal Kagesawa was in a coma due to his injuries

*As it is it's amazing he was still alive when we got him*

*That's partially because of me I believe, and doctor you know what I am talking about since you are the only cleared police doctor here*

*And that's exactly why I was brought in, because of the fact that he had been discovered by you so I figured that he might be important somehow to the police, to find out it was a missing and thought dead officer was just a bonus in my mind*

*Wait, how come the doctor knows what's going on but we don't?*

*Because as the only police cleared doctor here, since Masaki is my legal guardian until I turn eighteen it means that he is also automatically an EDC cleared doctor, while his clearance isn't as high as an actual doctor in the EDC all police doctors are cleared to know important medical information about all EDC officers and EDC kids as we're called*

*Though we aren't actually notified of that clearance until it's needed for some reason*

*Security reason actually, the fact that police cleared doctors are also cleared by the EDC at basically the same time is a very classified secret depending on several factors, the files on paper are kept in a location hidden even from me securely locked, electronic files are at least encrypted with four layer security, possibly even higher to keep those doctors from being targeted by our enemies, only when an EDC officer or an EDC kid is seriously hurt and has no access to an EDC base easily are the medical records declassified to those doctors. That includes countries that do not have EDC bases for whatever reason, now then while technically speaking there is an EDC base within easy access for me due to my issues it was realized that his clearance needed to be activated and revealed in case I was ever seriously injured and in need of medical care. Actually he's the one who took care of me initially once MADOXX discovered who I was, and I think he also helped take care of me with the poison incident as well*

*Actually for the poison incident I did not take care of you, but that was because you were at the police hospital instead of a regular hospital*

*Oh right, police doctors automatically are informed about EDC officers and EDC kids from day one just in case*

*Either way I am fully cleared to handle Kagesawa's case while he is here and we're waiting for him to be stable enough to be transported to the police hospital*

*What do you mean by that? I thought he was simply in a coma and last I knew coma patients are moved all the time no problems*

(Sighs) *I think Kerenai can explain this one better due to the fact that this is actually an EDC term that I only know due to my clearance and had to learn the language just in case, he's in what has been called by the EDC as a hypersensitive motion suppressing physical function coma, or a HMSPF coma, it is the most dangerous coma around, even if someone is hooked up to machines they can potentially die*

*Ouch there's only been three recorded cases of HMSPF as far as I know, fortunately there is a way to tell when he's in one of the more stable coma's but until then he's in the room you did the work in*

*No, he's in a hospital room, but we almost lost him when transferring him from the recovery room to his hospital room, which is actually how we found out he was in the coma in the first place, and the surgery was precarious all on it's own too*

*Right, you have other patients besides Kagesawa to take care of, I'll explain the coma in more depth to these officers to make sure they understand that Kagesawa really can't be moved right now*

The doctor leaves and all the officers turn to Clair for explanation, and explain she does, because it also involved some history on why it was called the way it was by the EDC and how it was discovered. Hypersensitive motion suppressing physical function coma's or HMSPF for short was a very rare coma that had been discovered when an EDC officer shortly before Clair was born was severely injured and needed emergency surgery to survive even making it to a nearby planet for even the most basic of treatment to stabilize them long enough to make it to a proper facility. Unfortunately things went wrong and they almost lost the officer while getting him to the planet, just like with Kagesawa in the present. When they got to the planet they discovered that the officer was in a coma never seen before, but they all assumed it was a normal coma otherwise so they decided once his injuries were stable enough for transportation they would get him to the proper facility, they did hook the officer up to life support just in case and that's when they would discover just how different the coma was because the officer would ultimately die being transported to the new medical facility. Only an autopsy would reveal that the coma could somehow sense when a person was being moved from one location to another and would suppress physical automatic functions like breathing and keeping the heart going, even if they were attached to life support, now they still weren't sure how the coma could detect movement but it could and would ultimately kill someone in order to force them to remain at their location for the healing process to properly take place with little to no medical intervention

*So basically everyone who was moved with this coma has so far died?*

*No, there is one other survivor so far, part of how they managed to survive was that they had entered the coma soon after having already been moved into their hospital room and the monitors are now calibrated to immediately alert doctors and nurses to this type of coma which allows almost all testing needed to be done in the room, the only tests not done are MRI's or CAT scans*

*Because those machines aren't portable?*

*Exactly*

Suddenly Clair's cell phone rang and she switched to English instantly recognizing the number

"Kerenai here what's wrong?...I see...no I understand...how soon until then?...right...do you want me to let Masaki-san know?...oh okay...yes they do...thought you would have been told...oh wait now I remember...you were going to be told but then Masaki-san and the others decided not to have that reported for the moment...security reasons in a way...what do you think?...okay...okay...will do...understood...bye"

She hangs up and sees the officers look at her in questioning

*It's fine, just something I needed to know about in regards to some EDC things, now then Masaki has been informed about Kagesawa right?*

*That he's in the hospital at least, but that was all we could tell him initially, but now we can give him a more thorough debriefing, but can you help explain the coma you were talking about?*

*No, but that's only because he already knows about the coma, not the entire medical language but he knows the basics about the coma and it's abbreviation, so as long as you use the abbreviation for the coma you don't have to explain that he's not moving from here until further notice*

*That's a relief*

*I'm sure it is*

*So what is the plan for you getting home then?*

*The plan that's been in place since the beginning, I stay here for the night and then Masaki will be here by tomorrow, either that or someone with permission will be here*

*And you'll know who that is?*

*In a way yes, but I might not know the exact person, but don't worry I'll be fine as you'll find out tomorrow*

*Bet you'll be glad not to have all these security measures once you're an adult*

*Erm, that might not actually be the case but I can't explain further for you*

*For now it's time to find a place to sleep for the night*

Clair shakes her head though and suddenly a new person in a different uniform approached the group

*Which one of you is Kerenai?*

*That would be me*

*What do you need the fire department for?*

*There's a building I want to burn down, after evidence is properly taken away from the property*

*Clair...*

*Nope, I actually can't let that warehouse stand any longer guys*

*Why not? I would think you would want it to be properly used again for what it was originally intended for*

*Normally yes, however...I saw signs that more than that group was using it for illicit purposes and actually made it dangerous to properly use for normal people. As such the building will have to be burned to the ground and eventually a new facility will take it's place, and the police will keep a better eye on it to make sure that it is never as run down as it is at the moment so that more groups like the one we stopped can never use that building site again*

*What signs did you see?*

*Equipment sabotage, beginnings of explosives, might have seen a few sensors as well that are designed to trip to outside alarms every three days unless a code is entered*

*That long?, then we have plenty of time*

*Ah, I'm not actually finished in describing the alarms, yes they are designed to trip every three days if a code isn't entered, however at the same time that is only in regards to the fact that the sensors are properly working, if someone is actually in the building with codes if those codes aren't entered every twelve to sixteen hours depending then the alarms automatically trip and someone will come and check things out, the same with the fact that they are also potentially linked to motion capture sensors as well which means even small animals will trip the alarms*

*How long until we need to worry about the alarms again then?*

*Not for another twelve hours, I actually saw them enter the alarm while I was waiting for a chance to escape, but that means we have very limited time to get things done*

*What about if the alarms are damaged?*

*They won't be set off, don't explain to me why but with the way the sensors and alarms are designed this time damage or destruction won't set the alarms off*

*Well, looks like we still have some work to do then, let's get going*

So they go back to the building that Kagesawa was found in and once the evidence was properly preserved the police, alongside the firefighters set fire to the building, but finally the police officers put their foot down in regards to Clair

*Clair, the firefighters will make sure it doesn't get out of control, you need rest after everything that's happened today*

*He's right Kerenai, that's why you called us in the first place after all*

*How long has it been burning now?*

*Two hours so far and it looks like it can go on longer, but you've had a long day according to the police officers here, you need to get sleep, we can see the exhaustion for ourselves*

*Fine, I know you guys are right, but since we'll be at the hospital checking up on Kagesawa tomorrow I want an update before I leave*

*Who's Kagesawa?*

The other police officers realize that the firefighters didn't know why they had been in that building in the first place, as did Clair and as such they realized that they needed to talk to each other and then realized that they didn't actually have the authority needed to explain

*Even I don't have that authority and trust me considering my situation I have more authority than you think I do*

*Would Masaki have the authority?*

*Yes, however at this time it isn't a good idea to call him*

*Why not?*

*Think, it's late at night and you've already called him about Kagesawa once already, since I talked to him while heading here as of that time he knows I am okay, if you call him this late at night he'll be worried something has happened to me*

*Not Kagesawa?*

*That would be a slight concern as well, but the doctor who is caring for Kagesawa is under strict orders to call Masaki if there is any change, those are standing orders by the way for him*

*Fine we won't call him tonight, however we will be calling him tomorrow about this situation*

*Nope, I will call him tomorrow for check in and figure it out myself*

*Fine*

The next day Clair called Masaki and got permission to explain the basics about Kagesawa to the firefighters who had burned the building down, and so while they were waiting for Clair's escort back home (the rest of the task force was going to stay a little longer per routine, and unfortunately this time a lot of paperwork that needed to be done thanks to the damage that had been wrought via burning down a building and unfortunately a brief car chase beforehand since they weren't going to ignore a criminal escaping the local police) the group told the firefighters about who Kagesawa was and why they had to rescue him, but it really was only the bare basics about Kagesawa, there was still much they didn't know about him like the fact he was an undercover agent when on assignment, and what's more, only Clair knew that Kagesawa was now considering becoming an undercover EDC officer as of when he was taken down due to the fact that the EDC had mentioned being in talks with Kagesawa during her early days of investigating where the criminals had taken Kagesawa's "remains" suddenly a voice spoke out


	16. Chapter 16

*Kerenai, I'm here to pick you up*

*Oh? Who are you officer since I've never seen you before*

*My name is Ichijoji Tomoya, Masaki asked me to pick you up since he's busy with Winspector duties, he also mentioned something about a special package for you, or was it a special dinner, I was leaving so fast I couldn't quite catch what he said*

Clair relaxes immediately knowing that he really was sent here to pick her up by Masaki, because the current code phrase was special dinner, but what neither Clair nor the officer knew was that Masaki also mentioned a special package had arrived as well, a package Clair had been waiting for for a while now. Back when she was reintegrating herself and had failed the weapons test due to poison and simply not being quite ready, she remembered a project she had been working on before she was forced to betray her family and had decided, during the time Ryoma and Junko were thought dead to start the project back up, and most of the parts she could find in Japan easily, but the last of the parts she had to special order from America and more specifically her family who knew what she was doing due to regular correspondence with them once more. Finally she was back in Winspector headquarters and gladly hugged Masaki and then just held onto him for a few more moments, and no one begrudged her needing a moment to act younger than she truly was, part of it was because everyone there actually knew the truth about Clair and her mental and emotional growth that she was still going through even almost a year after being free, and part of it is because they remember times when they themselves just wanted to be hugged by family even though they were now adults themselves, even if it was no longer so public a display depending on location and circumstances. Then Clair spoke in English, however it wasn't against the rules because this was a special terrorist involved update and no one but Winspector was cleared

"It was close Masaki-san, I didn't even recognize Kagesawa-san at first since I was seeing him from a distance, by the way the group that took Kagesawa-san wasn't the French terrorist group, we need to contact the Czech republic because the group was speaking Czech for the most part, though occasionally they spoke English, but not often"

"I understand, in regards to the French terrorist group we have no further leads on them for the moment, though we did receive an update from the EDC about the Koronians, they've been taken to another country safely and are currently going to remain on Earth instead of going home through their own decision"

"Understood, the group has been taken down for the moment by the way, but I don't know how long they'll stay behind bars, and unfortunately I don't know Czech, I can recognize that it's the language that's being spoken but don't ask me to translate anything"

"Well we do have those translators of yours that are now common for police around the world"

"True, but how about we contact those Czech officials first"

"What for? I know for a fact that they won't contest our interrogating the group since they committed crimes against a Japanese citizen and on Japanese soil as well"

"That may be the case but I want to see if they have any tips on dealing with this group"

"You have a point, okay you make the call while I finish a debrief with this group"

"Translator is on the phone line?"

"No, but the EDC recently informed me that all world governments are required to have someone who knows at least basic English to answer all police or government lines now and if need be transfer them to an official translator or someone who actually speaks both the language of the country and English if the person speaking English specifies that they don't know the country's language"

"Which means that they'll know I need a translator, because all governments are given a list of what languages I know and it's updated at need, this has been the case since I was seven years old by the way"

"Okay, make the call and go from there then, wait how many languages do you know again?"

"English, Canadian French, Cybertronian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, American Sign Language, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean, which means I know eleven languages fluently and can recognize about seven more due to how much traveling we did"

"Right, no wonder there's a list, and you always identify yourself too don't you?"

"Yep, now then we both have things we need to do"

Five hours later and Masaki was realizing that Clair needed a break desperately, because things weren't really going well in regards to the Czech government giving them information, and neither was sure if it was because the Czech government simply didn't have a lot of information, if the information wasn't compiled into one section, or if they were simply being stupid and not listening to Clair for whatever reason and as such Masaki gave Clair a signal that they had agreed upon very early in her staying at the police station constantly and occasionally helping the police with other governments, or even the Japanese government or police station at another jurisdiction, whenever that signal was given it meant that Clair was to politely either tell them that she needs to go or to hand over the phone to Masaki and with him also going over and giving her the "give me the phone" signal she said that someone wanted to talk to the person on the line

"This is Shunsuke Masaki of the Japanese police force known as Winspector why are you obstructing the previous person on the line?...have you spoken to the EDC about that?...okay I am going to tell you once and once only, if the EDC tells you anything about someone you believe it, period the end of it especially if it pertains to Kerenai...I don't care, if this happens again I am reporting you to the EDC...now then do you actually have any information on the terrorist group Kerenai mentioned?...I see and you couldn't tell her that yourself because?...that's what I figured...goodbye"

Masaki then hangs up the phone and starts ranting in Japanese and when Clair realizes what's going on she interrupted him with good reason

*Masaki, are you telling me that they were being idiots because they decided not to listen to the EDC about me for over seven years?*

*Yep, they didn't believe them way back when they said that you might have had a reason to attack your family, though that wasn't what they were told, and they also didn't believe the EDC when you finally returned home in regards to leaving the terrorist group*

Clair herself actually growls, something that all officers at the station, but primarily Winspector, had learned was a dangerous sign and potential prelude to Cybertronian ranting and as such they had taken to letting Clair know when she growls so as to calm her down much faster, even though that didn't actually always work it sometimes would, but they also let her vent sometimes depending on the situation but this was one time Masaki hoped he could calm her down before it got out of hand

*Clair, you're growling again, I think you need to calm down some*

*I...don't...care...I really don't, the world knows, they know the rules about the EDC, any new official is also informed about EDC rules as well*

Clair finally loses all control and then goes into a Cybertronian rant, which Masaki actually thinks involves some swearing, finally she growled out that she was going to the sparring room to spar against training robots for safety because she knew she was too angry at the Czech government to spar against other police officers safely at the moment though no one could tell at a glance. When she got there she was noticed by several officers and one of the rookies decided to see if they've improved by going up against her as was routine

*Kerenai I would like to spar against you*

*Sorry, not a good idea right now, in fact everyone off the mat, training robot full power*

The training robot boots up and with the first hit the fight was on and the older more experienced officers realized that Clair was dangerous at the moment

*Okay someone's ticked her off good, she's currently not safe to spar against and she knew that as it is we're going to have to be extremely careful if she remains angry but at the same time goes into a flashback because that will make her all the more dangerous, and unfortunately we don't know how to safely stop her*

*But I do*

The group turns to see Ryoma in workout clothes

*If needed I can get her to stop safely through special training that we've undergone since she's been with Masaki*

The group watches her fight and then Ryoma sees something that makes him realize she's no longer present

*Blast something's brought her into flashback, I hate PTSD at times*

And a PTSD flashback it was, because Winspector at the least had been taught the difference between a normal flashback and a flashback that involved her PTSD, and what had brought it on was the fact that while sparring against the training robot, unfortunately right as she had calmed down enough she had seen someone who looked a lot like the leader of the terrorist group and the window was open at the same time causing her to hear something that sounded like gunfire but was actually a racing start pistol, unfortunately those two combined would send her into flashback and more specifically a PTSD flashback

*Everyone keep back, I'm going to stop her but right now she's too dangerous for you guys*

Ryoma quickly goes up to Clair and gives her a physical enemy to fight for a few moments, and then when he knows it's time he says something that confuses everyone else, but what Ryoma knew would bring Clair back to the present

*White Swan Clair, White Swan*

The punch suddenly stops midair without making contact with Ryoma and then Clair speaks up

*Ryoma? I went into flashback didn't I?*

*Yes you did, and more specifically a PTSD flashback*

(Groans) *I hate it when that happens*

*No kidding*

The two weeks before her birthday actually went by smoothly, Kagesawa was actually released after only a week in the hospital and made his final decision and joined the EDC as a primary undercover officer with duty in public when possible due to the fact that Kagesawa was drained from constantly working undercover and having to be thought of as an enemy at times because he had to be extremely careful and judicious about when to reveal his true allegiance and identity. The EDC knowing that had offered to make Kagesawa a public officer with no more undercover missions but Kagesawa denied that offer for the moment due to the fact that the EDC knew his full past and as such knew there would be a time when he might have burnout and was given the option of simply being a regular EDC officer when he reached his undercover limit, but Kagesawa didn't know that yet since he was so against being a regular officer at the moment. On the day of Clair's birthday they held a small party at Winspector headquarters and that's when Clair gave Masaki the two petitions which he quickly signed after she explained the reason behind wanting him to adopt her even though she was now eighteen and also why she wanted to take on his name as well as part of hers, and the courts were quick to confirm her new legal status with the EDC lawyer that was there to represent Masaki and Clair there to help explain to Masaki that each government around the world had been prepared for this for a long time since it was part of the EDC's wish that this happen if Clair had ever been forced to be apart from her Cybertronian family long enough that an adoption by human parents that were affiliated with the EDC was needed


	17. Chapter 17

"So how does it feel to be Clair Kerenai-Masaki legally?"

"Feels great actually, now then I have an escort assignment tomorrow so I need to get some sleep"

"Tomorrow, weird that's when..."

"Sorry Masaki-san but that's something that isn't to be explained to Clair right now, I'll explain it in private for you though"

Once Clair leaves the whole Winspector team turns to the EDC lawyer and with four glares staring right at him he knew he needed a good explanation as to why Clair couldn't know about an event the next day like she normally would

"Want to explain why we're keeping the martial arts tournament a secret and that she's possibly escorting a judge to the facility?"

"Oh that's easy actually, as you know Clair hasn't participated in a martial arts tournament since shortly before she left her family to protect them, what you don't know, what no one knew was that once Clair revealed the truth to Winspector and the EDC made it public knowledge she's been watched through surveillance by many martial arts groups that hold tournaments, and also EDC officers officially trained in executing exams for belts of the different martial arts if an EDC officer, or EDC kid is so inclined to do. The EDC and all tournament groups have been waiting for this day for a long, long time, tomorrow is a special tournament though no one knows yet if they haven't gone to dojos around the world. Normally at a tournament you have only one discipline at any location, however tomorrow has all the disciplines around the world, plus it's also what's known as an open tournament which means even normal civilians can participate if they have even a little practice, because normally only those signed up through their dojo can participate in their belt ranks and against their discipline. There Clair can be officially recognized as a practitioner of several martial arts and be officially ranked in said martial arts through participation in the tournament. While at the same time all martial arts disciplines are going to officially condone what she did for seven years to protect her family, because she's actually been barred from participating in any tournament since the day she supposedly betrayed her family, but finally she's no longer barred and the different disciplines are going to recognize her sacrifice of seven years and tell the world publicly that anyone who still has a problem with what she's done no longer only has a problem with Winspector and the EDC but all martial arts disciplines as well"

"But wait, what will having the protection of the different disciplines do that us and the EDC can't?"

"Easy, many people who either are practitioners or regular people respect the martial arts greatly, as such with the different disciplines saying that they condone her actions and will have a problem with those that have issues with what Clair did means that she's under their protection and can go to any dojo around the world at any time and be safe for as long as she's there or with practitioners if they are out and about in public for any reason"

"They're offering her an emergency sanctuary at need"

"Exactly, the different disciplines have been wanting to do this for a while now but haven't had the chance until now"

"Did they make this open tournament specifically for Clair?"

"No, they actually do an open tournament every few years, the last open tournament was...five years ago if I recall, the timing is always different but no more than seven years have ever passed for an open tournament since this started years ago"

"But I'm willing to safely guess that once Clair was revealed by the EDC they decided that now would be a good time to hold an open tournament, but at the same time they gave her a year to recover first"

"Partially correct, they still would have had the tournament even without Clair being able to participate, and they also would have officially recognized Clair too without her participation, the other reason why they decided to hold it a year after Clair revealed herself was because of us EDC, though they are also higher up in ranking then I am, the EDC wanted to hold a tournament for all EDC officers but then decided to get the different disciplines involved if possible and it was decided that the best way to do things was through an open tournament and since these things take time and planning it was decided that a year from that time or close to it would be when the tournament would be held"

"How would Clair have...wait the news would have informed her if we didn't"

"Exactly"

"By the way, if she does participate she's now legally known as Kerenai-Masaki as you well know, but I don't know if the judges know that"

"Oh you have a point they don't since it just recently became legal, we'll inform them if she does indeed participate"

"Good thing the world government was prepared for the adoption which means it was made legal pretty quickly"

"Indeed, but that's partly because of Clair's family, which you are now officially part of"

"I know, however I don't want my security clearance increased unless it's required just because I adopted Clair"

"I'll make sure that her Cybertronian family knows your wishes though I'm also sure they've already thought of that themselves"

"Probably right"

The next day Clair picks up the person the EDC wanted her to pick up at the airport not knowing who he really was. What Clair had been told was that this person was a relative of an EDC representative that needed protection while in Japan, and while that wasn't a total lie it also wasn't the total truth either. The fact was that the person who she was escorting was actually an EDC trained self defense instructor and judge for competitions and EDC kids, as such while he needed a guide to show him around since he didn't speak Japanese he could actually technically protect himself long enough for help to arrive depending on if he could get his hands on a weapon or not or fight hand to hand at need quite effectively

"So what are your plans for today sir?"

"I have a place I need to go, the...Cowiniki stadium"

"The what stadium?"

"Here, I have the location written down, though don't ask me to repeat it again"

He hands her a piece of paper with both Japanese and badly spelled English

"Who gave this to you?"

"Um, not entirely sure of their name but they said that they were a junior EDC officer primarily focused in America but occasional research done on locations in other countries"

"Okay, the place is the Kawanichi stadium, just a moment you're not going to be able to understand me briefly while I talk to the taxi driver" (switches to Japanese) *We need to go to the Kawanichi stadium for some reason, the one near the pool in the Koncho district*

*Thanks, wait that's an indoor stadium*

*Don't ask me why but that's where he needs to go for some reason, I'll get another taxi once we're done since he's going to need me as translator and guide*

*Okay, fare once at the location?*

*Exactly*

Once at the location Clair pays the taxi fare and then once inside is told exactly what was going on that day

"I'll be in the audience then"

"Actually Kerenai, you can participate"

"Two things sir, my name is now legally Kerenai-Masaki, and I thought...I didn't think I would be allowed to compete, I haven't participated in a long time and am not officially part of any dojo"

"This is an open tournament, the last one was held five years ago, and before that the reason you were not part of it was because you were ill at the time I believe"

"If it is truly allowed then I will participate in the tournament"

"We'll add your name to the list of participants then and will let you know when your first round is up"

"Thanks, I need to change into some proper clothes then, actually I need to go buy a gi I think"

"We have some spares for just such an occasion"

"Okay then"

Finally though the tournament was on and it lasted most of the day with Clair quickly figuring out that she was fighting several different disciplines with breaks in between naturally. Finally though the competition ended and that was the signal that Clair was about to receive a surprise that everyone who was a judge and referee was waiting for, including the one who had to bring Clair back to the present

_Earlier that day_

Clair was fighting an opponent when suddenly she got kicked good in the ribs, a legal tactic in this fight but unfortunately for everyone it sent Clair into a flashback and the referee easily recognized it and knew what do do

"Get back!"

The opponent quickly gave way to the referee who fought Clair briefly, though Winspector was quickly there but was kept back by the judges who knew they could speak English

"You can't go up there, otherwise Clair will be disqualified"

"But she's in flashback, none of you can..."

"Yes we can"

"What?"

Suddenly the referee spoke up and Winspector learned what the judge was talking about

"Tiger Shark Kerenai-Masaki, Tiger Shark"

Clair abruptly stops fighting and actually has clear eyes once more and speaks up

"If you and the judges disqualify me I won't fight you on it"

The group quickly confers and decides that due to the fact that she was in flashback and they even knew what she had flashbacked to she was not disqualified and would continue fighting the rest of the competition

_Present_

"Clair Kerenai-Masaki you are hereby awarded the highest belt in Karate, Tae-Kwando, Judo, Aikido, and kung-fu"

"You are also offered sanctuary at any dojo around the world if you need it. Let it be known to all that all martial arts forms approve of what Clair Kerenai-Masaki did for seven years to protect her family, and if any disagree you will have to contend with the practitioner of any martial art in any country, as she is officially under our protection for the rest of her natural life, whether it be at a dojo or with a practitioner. And though she was unaware, the ban from competition is no longer, as is proven with this competition and onward even if she is not officially part of any dojo she can participate at any competition she so chooses"

"What about those that don't speak English?"

"Don't worry everyone who is here today will be receiving a pamphlet with the same information we just said, and all news around the world will also announce this as well when showing this on the news as far as we're aware"

"Very well then"

Clair then went over to Masaki with a look that all of Winspector knew as dangerous

"Tell me one thing Masaki-san, did you know about this yesterday?"

"Two things, after you went to sleep yes I was informed about this and the second, is that we're family now, as such you know you can call me dad, or if you don't want to, call me Masaki, and drop the honorific, if anyone asks we'll explain the adoption"

"Thanks...dad"

The group has Clair go ahead of them because they realized that they needed to talk amongst themselves

*Is it just me or was Clair hesitant to call you dad Masaki?*

*She was definitely hesitant, and I think I know why, she has no real family connection even with regular contact with her original adopted family, you have to remember she was with that terrorist group for seven years so change will always be a bit more difficult for her and then there's the fact that she's only had regular people contact for just under a year now and as such she's still not actually properly socialized, which is why she's staying in school even after she passes the tests that says she's achieved high school, the GED I believe she called it*

*We still have hurdles to go through with her don't we?*

*Yes we do, but we'll manage them like we always do*

The group heads to Winspector headquarters where they start making plans for Clair's education knowing that after a month in school she would take the GED and would take that test twice a year until she passed it, though they also all figured that she would easily pass the test considering the fact that she was already advanced before she had to leave her family and she admitted to getting in what education she could while the terrorist group was in France

"Clair, the day you returned home after leaving Kagesawa in the hospital you had a package for a project, have you completed that project?"

"Sorry dad, but unfortunately not, we've been too busy until now for that to happen"

"You have a point, I can give you some time now if you like since school doesn't start for a few days yet"

"I only need a couple hours at most fortunately since the project was mostly finished already and I just needed those last few parts from America"

Three hours later they knew that she was finally done due to a triumphant shout from her workroom

*Yes! I finally completed it*

She comes out holding a weapon that no one recognized

*Okay, now then I will explain it to you guys first, including the officers that I know shouldn't be here right now since they're supposed to be out on patrol, this is the K-369 gun, a gun that has been in development for a long, long time due to the final development being put on hold for seven long years due to my joining that terrorist group, and by the way Masaki we need to talk about the two different groups after we're done, now then I know people who I can send the designs to mass produce, but for now, Ryoma you will be getting the first gun, as soon as the others are ready the rest of Winspector will be getting this gun and then it will be sent to military personnel around the world, eventually being put into the hands of the police but it will never go into civilian use, as it's creator I will not allow it*

*Um, why aren't you speaking with Masaki properly?*

(Sighs) *I thought the station at the least knew this dad*

*D...dad?!*

*Thought so too, guess it hasn't completely gotten around the station yet, yes Clair is officially my daughter through adoption and since she is not completely comfortable with calling me dad I insisted she no longer use honorifics with my name if she slips up and that we'll explain the adoption at need if they understand Japanese culture*

A few days later Clair started school and for the next four years she smoothly switched between the Japanese school system and the American school system due to having passed the GED tests only a month after starting up school again which basically meant she was only going to school for socialization reasons and both governments understood why she needed to do so and gladly approved. Finally though she graduated high school in America and that's when Clair and the students both would receive a surprise, by now everyone at the school knew that Clair was adopted by a Japanese person, but other than that they didn't know anything, but now was the time to reveal just how old she really was and then she herself would be getting a surprise from her family, something that had been in discussions for two years without her knowledge, but revealing her age had been approved because of what she'd done before the graduation ceremony

"Clair Kerenai-Masaki, who will now be joining the police force at age 22 after attending the academy"

"Wait, you're 22, but that's...that's much older than any graduate here"

(Sighs) "I knew I was going to have to explain, however I am not going to go into full details because I can't, but the basics are that when I was ten I left my family to protect them for seven long years, eventually winding up in Japan and being fostered since I was still underage at the time, though there is more to the story that's basically all you're going to get in regards to why I graduated so late"

It having been decided that she would be last because of this explanation she was surprised when her adopted father came up and she immediately spoke Japanese just in case it was Winspector business

*Dad, what are you doing up here?*

*I need to explain something to your students as well as you, I have government permission by the way*

*Fine, so long as you have permission*

Masaki then drops the bombshell about Winspector and how they were planning on operating an American branch, and that the two branches would be part of the EDC and how when the Japanese branch was in America the American branch would be in Japan and vice-versa, but then he added a caveat

"However the only way an American branch is being opened up is if Clair passes the Academy"

"I'll do my best dad, and I think I know why you made this announcement publicly, even though no one can join yet as soon as they can you're trying to recruit them for Winspector"

"Pretty much, especially since if they join the EDC or military they are automatically exempt from the age restriction imposed on becoming a police officer for Winspector"

"Might have to scratch that one dad, after all we'll get too many people trying to do that then and that's not safe"

"Sorry, not my idea, blame America for that one"

"Okay why would..." (Groans and then mutters in Cybertronian) *Those idiots they are  _trying_  to get people killed this time because of me*

Masaki looked at her confused which she knew meant she had spoken in Cybertronian, but then Clair did something that surprised everyone but Winspector. Back when Clair had started going back and forth between the Japanese and American school system her Japanese family was fluent in English but realized that with them being part of the EDC now that meant that they should probably know more than just English and Japanese, but at the same time were realistic in regards to the fact that they were not linguists like Clair was who could speak eleven languages fluently and could recognize a dozen more even if she couldn't speak it. As such Winspector had decided to learn American Sign Language which was also known as ASL and had succeeded within two years of going back and forth between the two countries due to getting continual lessons at the EDC bases in Japan and America


	18. Chapter 18

*There's a group of people in the government who hate me for some reason, if I can prove they're the ones who approved that condition of lowering the age restriction I can take this to the President and get that restriction reimposed for the safety of everyone on the unit. And what they don't know is that I am going to make it a requirement that the American branch be fluent in Japanese like the Japanese branch is fluent in English, will explain my reasoning's why later*

They then switch back to English and actually talking

"Okay, it's going to take time for training to commence anyways and besides like I said you have to pass the police academy first"

The rest of the day was spent in celebrating the fact that four years of school was over, and everyone else learned that Clair had mainly been in school to socialize because of the seven years basically spent in captivity because she gave a brief description of how while away from her family a group had taken her in forcefully and made her do things she didn't like but had done to protect people, but that was all anyone who wasn't an EDC kid, officer or someone who had signed special paperwork was allowed to know

"So you were basically learning socialization skills you didn't get a chance to know earlier"

"Exactly, plus it forces me to work on claustrophobia issues as well and trust me they can be big issues at times, I will always be uncomfortable in crowds but at least I can handle them enough to actually participate in activities and if I pass the police academy social functions are going to be part of my life and as such I need to be able to handle socializing with people"

"And those seven years basically a prisoner are why you graduated so late?"

"Yes, and the only reason I am not so far behind is for reasons I can't get into except the one in regards to the fact that I am an EDC kid"

"So your next step is the police academy?"

"Yes, but first, first I need to make an appointment with some people in regards to what dad said earlier because I have a suspicion and if my suspicions are correct the age restriction will be back on very quickly"

"Aw but Clair..."

"Sorry guys it's for your own safety"

She then makes eye contact with Masaki and goes into sign language again mostly for the fact that it was now way to loud to be heard further than what she and her fellow graduate were distance wise

*Going to make a phone call about what we talked about earlier, will meet you back home depending on several factors, will let you know further updates when have them*

Masaki just nods and leaves the school knowing that what Clair had to do might take a while and Clair also leaves, knowing that what she was going to be doing was important enough to skip out on any further celebrations the school planned. Five hours later she had her answers in regards to why the restriction had been lifted and she and the other person she had talked to were not happy about what had almost happened

"So I'll see you tomorrow then?...okay...yes I'll tell dad...okay...okay...see you then...bye"

Clair goes home and let's Masaki know about the fact that she had a meeting in the white house with the President in regards to what had almost happened

"By the way, executive order is that the age restriction remains in place and all of us are going after the ones who decided to try and kill practically kids as a way of getting back at me for something that happened a while back"

"Okay then I was a bit confused about the orders but figured it might have been due to the fact that the groups I mentioned would be getting training anyways"

"Nope it's in regards to something else because don't forget people can join at seventeen with parental permission for both the armed forces and the EDC"

"I did forget that part sorry"

"Not like it directly affects you, but I thought you were informed of everything when you made that agreement"

"I was, unfortunately I wasn't aware that the EDC was included and since I don't see military training often I forgot about the parental permission"

"Okay that makes sense then"

Suddenly the phone rang and Clair answered it, and a few moments later put the phone back down

"You have your dress uniform correct?"

"Yes, what for?"

"So it turn's out that POTUS wants to see you as well, so I need my best outfit and you need dress uniform"

"Wonder why he wants to see me besides the fact that I've helped take care of you for about five years now"

"Oh I think I have an idea as to why"

"Care to fill me in?"

"After we talk to POTUS, because if you are still confused then it means that you're not quite understanding some subtleties that I thought you were due to the fact that quite frankly since you've been with us for so long you should be understanding a few things"

"Actually I might be understanding the subtleties that you think I'm not, but at the same time you might be correct that I'm not understanding the subtleties at all, we'll just have to figure it out after we meet with POTUS tomorrow"

The next day Clair and Masaki went to visit POTUS and it turned out that Masaki really was confused about why POTUS wanted to meet with him also, Masaki thought it was due to the fact that since he was in charge of Winspector he needed to be debriefed on how things would work once it was up and running in America, what was really going on was that POTUS wanted an undercover operation before the American branch was up and running so that what almost happened before would never happen again

"Okay so I was way off base, I thought it was to debrief me on how things would work since I helped raise Clair for the past five years thereabouts but I was definitely wrong this time"

"Yes you were"

"By the way Kerenai-Masaki, there was a drill recently at your high school and I was told that you were dead and was made to believe that for seven hours, even though you are not military and some of you may never be all EDC kids are on my radar at least slightly, you are on my radar the most in the fact that I get daily debriefs on your condition while unless they are military all EDC kids have monthly debriefs for me"

" _That_  was not my idea sir, in fact I highly protested that due to the fact that those that made those plans are cleared to know everything about me"

"So how did they get past your powers?"

(Sighs) "I haven't told anyone else yet but we've discovered that certain medications affect my powers, not severely in most cases but unfortunately it takes a little longer for my powers to activate, only half a second to a second longer but that means a bullet can kill me in that little time depending on distance and since it was point blank you get the picture, I warned the people in charge of the drill that you were not to believe my reported death because if that happened there would be consequences, but did they believe me  _no_ , and be glad it wasn't the drunk driving situation or things would have been worse in regards to both you and Masaki"

"Okay let's clear something up, I thought you had gotten used to calling Masaki-san as dad"

"I am, for the most part but even now four years later I still slip occasionally, and it mostly depends on the setting I am in"

"That makes sense, now then as if they would have gotten the scenario to work if they had chosen you for the drunk driving scenario"

"True and they actually mentioned that they were considering me for one of the two but when I mentioned my abilities they realized that the drunk driving scenario wouldn't have worked with me in it so they chose the active shooter scenario"

"So how exactly did it happen?, all I was told was that you were dead"

"Medication plus trying to stop the shooter equals dead"

"Ah, was that part of the scenario or did they have to ad lib it?"

"It was part of the scenario, as it turns out we were told that none of the EDC kids were picked due to how we were raised for the drunk driving scenario, too hard to be believable for us"

"Yes it is, bet you fought them on that point in having it even happen though"

"Actually I encouraged them to use a few kids who were on the edge of being stupid"

"Oh make those kids actually think"

"Yep"

"You never told me that, all you said was that the scenario was upsetting for some and that you hoped that those involved would pay attention to the lesson that was being given that day"

"Sorry dad, but you would have scared them if you were involved in any way and you know it"

"You have a point, I fought by your side for a year to get you back to a sense of normality in a social setting and you  _still_  have the occasional trouble, though it's much better than initially"

"And that's exactly why I didn't want any part of the drunk driving scenario"

"But you agreed to the active shooting scenario"

"Okay let's get one thing straight, you do not agree with these guys you do what they tell you to do threat or no threat"

"There were threats?"

"Not this time, but they have used threats in the past, but not for something like this, I'll explain the threats and the situations later, but just trust me when they threaten it's for a reason and actually good for them to do so, as to this scenario they didn't have to use threats and wouldn't they just explained that if I didn't do it they would choose someone else from their list no problem and the scenario would change slightly since it all depended on who participated and how that dictated just how the active shooter scenario would play out"

"Same with the drunk driving scenario?"

"Yep, but like I said I asked them to pick a few students who were on the edge of being stupid, but I warned them that you would be keeping an eye on at least me sir, but they didn't listen to me"

"Did you specify me?"

"Yes sir I did"

_Day before scenario_

"Okay I'll do it, however you need to tell certain people that it is just a scenario and no one is actually dead because you will have trouble if you don't"

"Oh?"

"Yep, my dad for one, the EDC for another, and POTUS, also known as the commander in chief, also known as President of the United States"

"And just why would we have to inform the President about your true status?"

"Because of the fact that I'm an EDC kid, and not just any EDC kid but the only one so far who was raised by the Cybertronians, even if I did leave them for seven years to protect them, as such the President will be keeping an eye on me at the very least if not the other EDC kids, you do not want the President to think me dead, trust me it's not pretty if it happens"

"Sorry, but everyone's reactions have to be authentic"

"Don't blame me for what happens then since I clearly warned you against taking this course of action"

"Is there anything else we need to know before the scenario takes place?"

Clair then gives them all the information they needed in regards to her to properly do the scenario the next day

_Present day_

"All right, now then the group you mentioned does threats, but at the same time you support them threatening people"

"Yeah, let me explain why them threatening people is actually a good thing"

Clair explains why and when the group uses threats and Masaki and the President both agreed that yes the group needed to use threats at times and it was appropriate for them to do so, they finished discussing their undercover operations in regards to the threat to young lives and then Clair and Masaki went to the nearest EDC base which they would call home until further notice and that's when after a quick talk with Galvatron who was there at the moment the two groups decided it was time to reveal something to her


	19. Chapter 19

"Clair we need to talk"

"About what?"

"Something that's important to both of us you see Clair there's something that we've been keeping from you for two years now, due to the fact that though you have long since earned it, and should have gotten it when it was decided at the same time we felt you being able to properly socialize was more important"

"Who are you talking about?"

"Me and your Cybertronian family, we've created what is basically a clan symbol, all your descendants are able to wear it when they either turn eighteen or twenty depending on if they are born or living in Japan or America at the time and both family and personal decision"

"What is it?"

"A tattoo, your family and I already knew we were linked through adoption, but two years ago we decided to formalize a symbol and another piece of paperwork to truly make us one family, now then this isn't just a clan symbol, but also a means of identifying you if anything happens to you while on duty for whatever reason"

"Okay when can we do it then?"

"We can do it now, and more importantly we've decided to do it before the undercover mission for a reason"

"And what reason is that?"

"To show those idiots that they can't force us to do anything wrong if we stand together as a family and trust one another, part of the problem this time was that while we were talking to each other and trust one another explicitly we weren't making connections due to just how secretive that group can be"

"And like you said if something happens this ways I can always be identified"

"Yes though we hate to think about it we must"

"I know"

Three hours later Clair was wincing a bit as she looked at her new tattoo that was also a clan symbol. The tattoo looked like the Winspector badge with the old Autobot and Decepticon symbols combined in the center with the Cybertronian word for unity on the bottom and the Japanese word for peace on the top and the whole thing was colored correctly with the badge being gold the Autobot and Decepticon symbols being red and purple respectfully and the words in black

"So how do you like it?"

"It's perfect for us, the best way to symbolize everything this clan is"

"Now then there's some basic tattoo care that you need to learn and you also need to give yourself a bit of time to heal, once that's done though we're doing our special mission and then you can go to the police academy"

"Nope I only need about five hours and then I'll be good to go for the mission"

"You're powers?"

"In a way, you see the original holders of the powers have something similar on their home planet, as such as soon as the tattoo was started there was a part of my powers that recognized what was going on and as such I will heal faster than predicted by a lot"

"Okay then, we can start our planning in earnest tomorrow for today we'll let your arm heal and then have a night of relaxation, we might need it desperately by the time the mission is over with and we get the people who tried to kill people because of you behind bars"

"Besides which you've been in Japan for every birthday since you were freed from that terrorist group and we want to celebrate it properly now, so you're getting  _at least_  four years worth of celebrations tonight, maybe more"

"Even though you send me presents every year?"

"Hey you have basically had a Japanese birthday since you were free you deserve an American celebration now and you can't fight us due to the fact that even Masaki agreed to it"

"Dad..."

"Sorry Clair but I agree with them, even though it's either late or early depending on what you want to think of this as they deserve to celebrate your birthday with you here in person"

And so the group celebrated a lot of missed birthdays with Clair's original adoptive family and everyone could see for themselves just how far Clair had come since those early days being free from the terrorist organization that she had been with for seven years, yes in public settings she still had trouble and you still couldn't make her go in an elevator if it could be avoided or on public transport without her hesitating ever so slightly due to her claustrophobia, and there were still times she had a PTSD episode even with her family being there but she was free and completely relaxed at any EDC base around the world with no problems in regards to the fact that like the normal military there were regular transfers moving in or people moving out and if there were EDC kids around as well she was a completely different person around them, safe in the knowledge that they could protect themselves and her at need due to the fact that they had been warned about her PTSD and as such knew what triggers she had and how to help her if she did have an episode, thus making her act more like herself even around a bunch of strangers. Plus while she still had trouble socializing properly being in the school for four years helped her get to a point where she could handle being in a social environment and not act inappropriately, though there were still precautions made when she was in such a setting it wasn't as severe as initially

"Uh Clair we have a letter for you, looks like it's from the police academy"

"Okay let me see it"

Clair reads the letter, looks confused and then makes a phone call in her room and finally comes out still looking slightly confused but at the same time looking like she knew something in regards to the confusion

"Okay, so it turns out that the President made a few phone calls and I am considered a police cadet as of when the meeting happened, however I am not in active training and am to follow either the EDC, other officers or of course POTUS in regards to any orders given, dad you are not included this time unless it's in regards to your role in the EDC since Winspector is officially recognized but not fully active while in America yet"

"Okay, by the way you have yet to explain why the group has to be fluent in Japanese"

"Oh, well part of that is because while the Japanese branch is in America, the American branch will be in Japan, unless we're needed else where's on EDC business, the other part is to keep conversations secure whenever we are in America or another English speaking country"

"What do you mean?"

"Well if the American Winspector group needs to talk about sensitive information that the rest of the station can't know about, it's best to talk in Japanese than to risk someone coming into the office and accidentally overhearing something they shouldn't either at the moment or at all depending on what the information is"

"Now that I think about it that makes sense and also what we already do in Japan"

"Exactly, now then I want an updated family picture for my locket for not only the undercover mission but also for when I finally actually go to the academy"

"That's right, we never did get a picture when Masaki-san adopted you officially"

"Completely forgot about that Captain Faireborn, completely forgot about that"

"And now is the best time since we are well and truly now a family thanks to whatever you guys did"

The picture was taken and soon developed and Clair had her new family photo instantly put into the locket, knowing that she would need it for comfort that her family was always behind her, and also as a reminder of what she was fighting for, she already knew her locket habits which were not broken even after five years of freedom from the terrorist group, though nowadays she mainly used it to comfort her after a PTSD episode, either during the day or at night

"Clair, how often do you use that locket as a comfort?"

"Often enough, and you know full well that habit can never be broken after seven very long years of ensuring I always had it with me"

"I know, and I also remember the set back you had when that locket needed repairs"

"Not our fault we found a new trigger for me after we had already thought we had found them all years earlier"

"True, but the set back lasted longer than normal because of that"

"Hey you never did mention how your therapist connected the locket to your mental and emotional well being Clair"

"That's right, we were warned to never separate you from the locket except at great need, either because the locket needed repaired or there was a situation that required you to take it off, like if you were going into surgery, thus the reason why we were also told to immediately get it back to you as quickly as possible, even if you weren't conscious when you got it back"

"Okay, first of all you have to realize that this was early on in therapy, and second of all even I was unaware of just how attached I was to the locket, oh I knew it was important to me and my sanity while with the terrorist group, since it was the only thing I had left of my real life, but I didn't realize just how connected I had become to the locket until the incident with the therapist. You see back when I was in active therapy, unlike now when I only see one at need, I had daily sessions to help me with what I had done for seven years, almost two of them under the influence of drugs, now we were working through several things during that time when one day the therapist noticed that I unconsciously went for the locket whenever I was uncomfortable, thus part of why they developed that theory in the first place, they also decided to test the theory as well, by asking me to take it off and set it on the table. I was hesitant but did it figuring that the therapist had their reasons for doing so, sadly one of my known triggers activated during the session while I was without the locket. Does dad and the rest of the team remember my reaction the station was attacked and the sirens went off, before MADDOX revealed it was an attack?"

"Yes, you went into hiding trying to comfort yourself"

"Unfortunately sirens and an explosion happened while the locket was off and I reverted back to that day when I was a scared child until I learned of the attack, however with the therapist it was because of the fact that they were getting ready to tear down some buildings with explosives, once I found out that I was fine, but that's when the therapist realized I could never be separated from the locket except at great need, several other incidents just cemented that fact in their mind"

"And then we found out a new trigger a year ago accidentally"

"By the way what's this I hear about you needing sanctuary in an Aikido dojo in France on a school trip?"

"You're only just now hearing about this?"

"Yes, for some reason the report didn't come until now"

"Yeah, there was some trouble while I was at a performance that the class was scheduled to attend, a small splinter cell of a gang that I had dealings with while in the terrorist group recognized me and decided to cause trouble, I ran instead of fought and noticed the dojo and as such took sanctuary there for about five hours while the local police looked for the gang members and any other possible trouble"

"By the way, what's this I hear about your involvement in an undercover assignment?"

"I'm not the actual person going undercover due to that international law against it, instead I'm going to be the main contact person for the one who  _is_  going undercover"

"So they're supposed to get evidence against the guys who have a grudge against you for some reason?"

"Yep, and thus why I have to be involved even slightly, I am the only person who can tell everything apart in regards to what is normal and what is evidence for why they tried to pull what they did due to their grudge against me"

"Fine, by the way, what was your reaction to hearing that law that's been around for several years now?"

"She actually wasn't all that surprised that such a law was made for her protection"

"Dad's right, when I actually thought about it I realized that this was for my own safety and possibly actually the best idea in regards to me dealing with such a situation again. I basically spent seven years undercover and am still suffering the affects from that time period"

"Your PTSD episodes"

"Yes, and several other issues as well that we've discovered either relatively quickly or over time that the seven year period caused"

"But still, why did we discover that particular smell as a trigger so late after discovering all of your other triggers?"

"I think it's because it's the first time I was exposed to that particular smell since my time with the group that we were unaware of it potentially being one of my triggers, everything else we either tested or I was exposed to it early and often enough that we already knew it could potentially trigger me depending on several factors"

"Smell?"

"Yes, there's a certain chemical that I have an episode when exposed to, every single time so we know it's a definite trigger for me"

"Wait, what about military training, the SERE training you had to do, what about that?"

"Oh she triggers if she's bound and hooded so that she can't see, we've gotten it to a point where she doesn't immediately go into a panic, but it's still not a good idea to keep her bound and hooded for long periods of time"

"Was it during that month period where the police actually raided your headquarters and captured you for that month?"

"Yep, that's how they moved me constantly, I was blind and bound and had no clue what was going to happen to me next, they never actually did anything worse than hit me a few times and interrogated me but a few of the guards almost took things to the next level"

"Very well then, we'll take your word for it, now about this undercover assignment that you're part of, and the fact that you're part of the police academy even if you aren't physically there at the moment..."

"Right, for the moment Winspector is actually on standby in case something goes wrong for an EDC officer and a regular police officer on their undercover mission, I am the main communication person since I know how to separate normal issues from issues with me that the group has that almost killed kids. We have a set communication schedule which means if I don't hear from them in a certain time period I alert the President and we go from there including getting Winspector in the group undercover while looking for our missing agents. As for the police academy part, he and the academy I got accepted into talked and it was agreed that I am on special assignment and as such cannot formally enter the school with my classmates at this time, instead once the mission is over I will physically join my classmates and they will be told I was given an assignment by the President and that such assignments will happen at times because of the fact that I am an EDC kid, and since that has been policy since before I was born no one will question such a thing"

"You have a point, good thing both you and he remembered that police cadets that are also EDC kids can be assigned something by POTUS himself at need"

"The new President is informed of such policies the first day they take office Galvatron, learned that shortly after I started living with dad in Japan"

"Why weren't we told about this?"

"No idea"

Fortunately someone with answers came in at that moment

"I know"

"Captain Faireborn, it's been a while"

"So it has Clair, Masaki-san, Primes, Galvatron, the reason you didn't hear about the policy before is not only did it not actually affect you personally because of the special agreement between you guys and the government regarding Clair, but also because of the fact that you have other, bigger concerns in the eyes of the President and all who served before him and as such they felt that something that would never directly affect you was unimportant for you to know, however everyone else in the EDC, and once they turn eighteen, the EDC kids themselves, are told about the policy so that they can alert their bosses about such a possibility from the start, the only exception is those who decide to go either into the EDC or armed forces, if only because for the armed forces he's their commander-in-chief and for the EDC that has it's own rules and formations that follow outside of what is needed and as such while he may officially request an EDC officer they are not given special Presidential assignment's without prior commanding officer approval"

"But anyone else has the risk of Presidential orders?"

"Not exactly, it also depends on the type of work that they're in as well, police, fire and medical are at the top of those who might be given a Presidential order at any given moment, police more than anyone else, those that work on airplanes as mechanics, pilots or even flight attendants are second in priority, and then the final group that can be called on at a moments notice are those that work at energy plants"

"So, let me get this straight, those in the EDC or armed forces won't get Presidential orders due to the fact that POTUS is either their commander-in-chief anyways, those in the EDC function just differently enough that he doesn't want to interfere with that and everyone else has a priority level depending on where they're working"

"Exactly Rodimus, now then Clair, you know the rule about undercover assignments?"

"Yep, never allowed to do so personally, but can apparently be the one who facilitates communication between the two groups depending on several factors"

"Exactly, by the way did you ever figure out why we decided to have you go to school in the country's capitol?"

"Yep, that ways I was close enough to the President in case of trouble that needed his attention, but at the same time I was also in a central location for several other groups as well"

"Exactly, and then depending on the location you could get to the group in only a few hours drive"

"So now what?"

"Well like I said I was accepted into the police academy I applied to, and am officially a cadet there, but since I can't physically attend the next best thing for me to do is get a temporary home as a base of operations for communication, the President also mentioned the fact that while I'm waiting to attend the actual academy he wants me to work at the police station as a person interested in law enforcement, just to get an idea of what I'm in for once I do graduate, but that it's not an order and that if I so chose others will supply me with the money I need until I physically attend the academy"

"Have you made your decision?"

"No, I still need some time to think about it, and until I get housing I'm thinking of staying at the EDC base there"

"That's fine, you know full well all EDC kids are allowed to stay on base even after graduation until they find a job and place to live, that's a decent place that is"

"Don't worry, I remember the requirements, I'm just glad I  _can_  stay on my own now"

"That's right, you were basically living on your own for the past two years haven't you?"

"Not entirely, but for the most part yes, and the only reason I haven't been completely alone is because there have been a few times my place needed attention in Japan and I stayed with dad, and for here there have been a few times EDC kids have come over for a study period and then stayed the night due to me forbidding them from walking home, and then there's the fact that dad's been supporting me financially still"

"True, but like you said for the most part you've been physically living on your own, even if you still have a lot of support until you start making your own money"

"Exactly, oh, and those undercover know how to keep in touch with me even if I move from my current address"

"POTUS?"

"Nope, other means which I am not explaining for safety reasons"

Suddenly though the lights go out and Clair loses consciousness. Three hours later she wakes up to people calling her name


	20. Chapter 20

"Oh I hate it when that happens, Captain, keep your voice down please"

"Were you also hit in the head?"

"Not just hit in the head but also drugged, trust me I know that feeling all to well"

"Seven year period?"

"Yep, either one or both happened on a semi-regular basis and I hate both methods because it is  _not_ fun and quite frankly I feel off for a bit, including now"

"Don't blame you, by the way have some info for you"

"Oh?"

"Yep, the base was attacked by a new group the EDC was in talks with trying to see if they wanted a trade agreement with us, turns out they were luring us into a false sense of security, at least that's what they believed"

"They don't know EDC bases, or EDC officers at all then depending on how long those talks have been going on"

"Exactly, fortunately procedures are already in place and there should be people fighting back, and we'll be hearing it hopefully within the hour depending on just how long we've been out cold"

Fortunately about a half hour later an EDC officer came to their location and reported that the base was free and the group that attacked the base arrested

"Good to hear, now then I'm going to get to bed since I have a major headache and I already know painkillers aren't going to help"

"Wait, why were you drugged and the rest of us not?"

"You might have been without knowing it Captain Faireborn, I'd check if I were you"

As it would turn out only Clair had been drugged unconscious after being knocked in the head, what Clair would ultimately never remember was that she had briefly woken up before being put into the cell she would wind up in and tried to do something about the attack, but the group that attacked the base drugged her to keep her out the longest since everyone else, while not hit hard, was out cold long enough to be put into cells without a fight. A few days later while everyone was relaxing Clair received a letter and she paled at what it said

"What is it Clair?"

Clair doesn't answer in English though, she answers in Japanese to keep the conversation within family

*Do you remember the summer I was called to America suddenly?*

*Yeah, we had to change school schedules because of that*

*Well I was specifically requested to help the Texas Rangers with something. As you might recall me telling you, I was starting to become well known as a tracker amongst the military, EDC and law enforcement around the country, but due to me joining the terrorist group to protect my family we never found out just how good I really was. As such when I arrived in Texas I was given a tracking test and passed with flying colors, I am now known as a tracker for law enforcement across the country. Once I passed that test I helped the Rangers track down some criminals they were having trouble finding, now then Texas has become developed since the days of the old west, but there are still areas where ranches are vast and horses are the main transportation. I finally managed to track down the criminals in the case the Rangers needed to catch and they were put in prison, we thought it was a life sentence, however this letter has proof otherwise*

*How so?*

*The criminals recently escaped from jail, and have gone on a killing spree, starting with twenty prison guards and police officers in the area, they've left a survivor the last time they came across a police officer and told them to pass on the message that they're not going to stop until everyone who put them behind bars is dead, that includes me though they think I'm a kid. Sooner or later they're going to go up against the one Texas Ranger still alive and then he'll come after me*

*What happened to the other Rangers on that case?*

*They died about a year ago in a raid, their names were in the papers but the criminals had no way of knowing about the raid since they were denied news for a period of time by court order*

*So they'll come after you soon and terrorize the country in the meantime*

*Unfortunately yes, because they will find me they always find the people they're after*

*Does this mean moving plans are going to be accelerated?*

*Yep and POTUS needs informed that information will be passed to him and me through a different means than what was originally discussed for safety reasons*

*Only robot half of our family involved since they know Japanese?*

*Yep, and even then Prowl and Barricade, you are not both going to be involved, only one of you for safety reasons and that's final am I understood?*

*But Clair...*

*No buts Prowl, remember the laws that were established upon my adoption*

*Sorry, I forgot since you don't normally pull rank*

*Wait what?*

*Sorry dad, forgot you might not have been told, only the Primes and Galvatron rank me by Cybertronian law, others may be in charge of the base while they're gone, but if I give an order and they know it's an actual order I have to be obeyed by law*

*By the way what are we going to do about those escaped criminals?*

*Like I said, POTUS needs informed, and then we'll go from there*

*Okay, I'll see that it gets done*

*Good, and Soundwave, tell Blaster on Cybertron to alert the rest of the family not to believe any reports of my death unless it comes directly from a family member*

*Aren't you forgetting something Clair?*

*No Galvatron I'm not, you know full well I know more about this threat than you do, thus why I decided to pull rank and why you let me do so*

*That's not what I meant, what are the three of us leaders supposed to do in the meantime about this new threat against you?*

*Nothing, at least I want it to look like you're doing nothing*

*Huh?*

Clair just smirks and they realize that she has a plan in mind for the three of them, a good one too, back when Clair was originally living with them whenever she had a good plan, even in simulations she would always smirk announcing that she had a plan, after she came home she lost the smirk because of the fact that she had to change while with the terrorist group, and one of those changes was breaking her smirking habit, plus she had to get used to the idea that her plans were for the right side of the law again instead of for terrorists, but through reintegrating her into simulations, they slowly managed to bring the smirk back until it was a common sight once more whenever she had a plan that was good

*Okay, so here's the plan Optimus you're going to...*

Clair does a walk to the door of the office and once the three of them are in the office no one knows what exactly the plan is since the doors are deliberately made soundproof, for just such occasions where meetings needed to be kept secret due to plans that needed made and kept quiet could be such plans

*Why didn't she just make her plans in Cybertronian?*

*Because her robotic family speaks Cybertronian*

*Wait, I thought she could read, write and speak High Cybertronian, which only the three leaders know*

*Um...not exactly, you're actually overestimating how much she can do with High Cybertronian, she can read it, and sort of write it, but actually speaking it is impossible, unless she's taught herself how to in the seven years away from home*

*Oh, didn't know that*

*So that's what you meant by making plans in Cybertronian then*

*Yep, I figured she knew High Cybertronian since she knows regular Cybertronian as well, we discussed her training once and her ability to learn languages came up during the talk*

*Oh, by the way, why are we still speaking Japanese?*

*Because we Winspector members feel like it*

*Fine by us, it's your native language after all, you can speak it whenever you want around us since we'll easily be able to understand you*

*Exactly, plus we've noticed that her two native languages and her third primary language all help to ground her at times and I think right now she needs the grounding badly*

*What makes you say that?*

*Between the group that is trying to get kids killed because of her, and this new information I think she needs grounding in the fact that she's with her family and everyone is currently safe and unharmed, and that we're ready for any trouble headed our way due to training, either for as long as you guys have trained or us Winspector members that she now has lived with for five years*

A few minutes later the three leaders and Clair finally left the office and then Clair made a strange request to everyone but one person, earlier in the White House the President had given Clair a letter with some personal information for her, but at the time she didn't and couldn't do anything about it but now she had the time to handle what the information was

"Dad, can you take me to Arlington?, it's in regards to what the President gave me earlier"

"Of course Clair, anything you need before we go?"

"Actually yes, I need to stop by a flower shop first"

Thirty minutes later she was at Arlington in front of a newer grave that she hadn't even managed to attend the service for due to other commitments at the time and the fact she had been made unaware it was happening even though it was her right to be informed and attend the service

"Hey uncle, sorry I wasn't here when the service happened, I only just got the letter informing me about your death, the letter also informed me that you had left the program only a week earlier when the accident happened, I just wish we had been able to spend time together or even some form of communication, but I understand why the program rules are what they are and also why you decided not to put me into the program even if it was your right as my uncle to care for and raise me once it was established your relationship with me"

Clair would ultimately stay there for several hours also visiting her parents who were buried there in the EDC section and also a cousin who she had never known due to them dying when she was only days old, finally though they headed back home since once Masaki realized that Clair's parents were at Arlington and he had never actually visited their graves, he decided to do so to rectify that situation and let them know how he came into their daughter's life and how he had cared for her as best as he thought they would have after her ordeal of seven years


	21. Chapter 21

*So ready to go?*

*Yes dad, I'm ready*

Clair gets back to base and then a few days later heads out to her new temporary home, she had managed to find an apartment at her new location and managed to get a monthly rental agreement since she knew that eventually she would be able to go to the police academy and everyone in the academy lives on campus until graduation

"So what's the plan for you?"

"I'm going to go with the President's suggestion and get a job at the police station, that ways if I run into any trouble I have a place to go to that can help me since I'm authorized to inform anyone I need to about this current assignment"

"Plus they'll already know you which is another thing going for you if you need them"

"Exactly, but I don't know if I should use my name or not"

"Clair..."

"It's not that I don't trust them dad, but this assignment is  _dangerous_ , I don't want anything to lead back to you or my Cybertronian family this time"  
"You know the law Clair, you were informed of it at the White House by the President himself"

(Sighs) "I know, but still I need some sort of reassurance that the family will be safe while I'm doing what needs done to protect the young people wanting to join the police and possibly Winspector"

"We can take care of ourselves Clair you know that" (switches to Japanese) *I can also ask the three leaders to come to Japan or even leave Earth for a bit if it makes you feel better, besides even though we're officially all family now we haven't really had time to truly get to know one another, and the three leaders have offered more than once a trip to Cybertron to see your second home planet due to adoption. They will listen to your concerns about their safety, they learned that lesson the hard way through losing you for seven years*

*But they didn't know about the threat back then*

*Actually Clair in a way they did know about the threat to them, and the rest of the EDC bases, you left very small clues as to the fact that something was wrong, but they didn't confront you or do anything about it until it was too late*

Clair and Masaki hug and Masaki also kisses the top of Clair's head, something that neither had a problem doing in public since the legal adoption four years earlier, everyone knew that was Masaki's way of calming Clair down and also letting her know he was behind her all the way in whatever she chose to do, then he said something that made no sense to anyone but Clair, it was something the two of them had come up with one day during the year she spent healing mentally and emotionally from the seven years spent with the terrorist group and she had suffered a severe flashback which had her staying inside for several days, going back to the mentality that outside was too dangerous and it best to fortify her current residence in case of trouble trying to come. Clair and Masaki had talked a good long bit after she had calmed down and it was decided that Masaki would learn a little Cybertronian, but that would be all the Cybertronian he would learn even if offered by her Cybertronian family later for a complete lesson

"Le'n'ni kāason'naff kopta lesh fikla"

The regular EDC officers were confused, but the Cybertronians there understood  _exactly_  what had just been said, and for Masaki to tell that to Clair meant she really needed that phrase, because that phrase was never used lightly around Clair for a reason. The next day Clair went to the police station and asked for a part time job as a desk clerk, quickly getting said job too due to her experience and she quickly learned the routine, all while waiting for the first of the messages in regards to the group trying to kill young people because of Clair

"Kerenai-Masaki, you seem to know a great deal about police stations"

"You know part of my background, what you don't know is that I've basically lived at a police station for five years, one year continuously and then the other four years for about a half year"

"What kind of station?"

"One in Japan, and your higher ups know why I was in Japan and also why I am familiar with a police station there as well, but you unfortunately aren't cleared to know any more than what you've already been told"

"Oh yes I am because I'm..."

"Unless you're with the EDC in some way I really don't care and even then it really depends on several other factors to see if you're truly cleared to know about me"

"He's not cleared at all, he just think he's important since his father is involved in the state senate somehow, I keep getting onto him about his attitude but he just doesn't listen to me"

"Hello Captain, sorry to say you're not entirely cleared to know about me either"

"I know, but I'm cleared for enough to know why you've been around a Japanese police station so long and also why you have a very strange name"

"So you know about..."

"Yep, I was looking for you anyways since this came in and no one, and I do mean no one can read this, and we have a linguist on hand for written work"

"What's their languages?"

"Not entirely sure, but they know at least five, including Latin"

Clair's given the slip of paper and sees Hiragana on it

"Looks like they don't know Japanese though, because that's what this is"

"I'll ask and double check with them on that, but since it looks like you know Japanese can you translate that for us?"

"No problem Captain"

Fifteen minutes later the Captain came back to a translation for him and answers for Clair

"Turns out you were right, they don't know Japanese, they know six languages including Latin, but Japanese isn't one of their languages, they mentioned adding more interpreters or linguists who know languages they don't but as of now we just don't have the funding"

"Well, I know Russian, Japanese, Canadian French, Spanish, Portuguese, American Sign Language, English, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean"

"Will you translate those for us for your normal pay?"

"No problem Captain, but I will warn you that depending on several factors it might take me a bit to actually fully translate it"

"No problems, and for the spoken language we have special translators with us to help with that, developed a long time ago, but that's mainly because of the fact that we work with the EDC and sometimes have to deal with international EDC officers"

"Oh here's what needed translated, not sure just how high priority it is though"

What the message was, was that it mentioned several officers that the Captain knew that were coming to America for a sort of vacation and to be on the lookout for them because they were also coming to town during a conference and their chief wanted to know if the Captain could take them to the conference to show them the difference between Japan and America in regards to police work

"Okay it's partially personal, partially business, and for some reason I don't think the writer knew I only know English, my Japanese friends are fluent in English but are Japanese citizens"

"Okay, so is there anything..."

Suddenly the power cut out and the emergency power didn't kick in like it was supposed to, and since it was the night shift everything went dark just long enough for Clair to be bound, hooded and taken out of the building, two minutes later all the officers had flashlights and doing a check to see who was still there like they were supposed to be

"Kerenai-Masaki...Kerenai-Masaki answer me, Kerenai-Masaki if you don't answer right now..."

Clair didn't answer but suddenly the power went back on and after everyone's eyes adjusted they knew for sure that Clair was no longer in the building, and there was a note on her desk

_Note_

We have taken Kerenai-Masaki for our own reasons, expect a call in an hour with further details, don't worry she will remain unharmed during her duration in our care

_End note_

The Captain called the nearest EDC base per his orders in regards to Clair and they weren't too happy about it either and mentioned to the Captain that it was possible that her captors were lying but that they would be unable to ascertain the truth for the moment

"Understood, by the way we're going to check our infrared security cameras, the ones you guys insisted on us having a while back might give us some new info that might break the case"

The group looks at the video and while it doesn't give them any clues as to who the perpetrators were it did give the Captain a good reason to worry

"This isn't good, she isn't going to be as unharmed as they think, I need to make some phone calls immediately about this"

The Captain immediately calls the EDC back letting them know of the new information that they had in regards to the fact that Clair had been blindfolded and bound, two things that the Captain had been told she was not going to be fond of and to avoid if at all possible, and if the station ever  _did_  need to blindfold her for whatever reason to always let her know it was happening first so that she didn't potentially go into a panic attack and to never have her blindfolded for very long. The entire station had also learned early on to never try and sneak up on her, for one thing it hardly ever worked unless she was in a zone like state where she was completely oblivious to her surroundings, the other reason was that if she  _was_  surprised it was dangerous for the person surprising her because of the fact that she could fight, now they didn't know her true fighting ability, but they knew enough that surprising her was not a good idea, as such they always did their best to announce their presence to Clair and if she seemed to be in her zone they did whatever they could to get her attention first before getting any closer than two desks ahead of her, because even coming at her with something for her to drink or eat was dangerous if she wasn't aware of her surroundings, which again wasn't very often. The Captain then received some very strange orders from the EDC, they would obey the note, but inform Clair's captors that what they had done might have caused a mental and emotional set back and to make sure she still had a locket on her. What neither the police or EDC knew was that Clair really was okay by the time the hour would pass, she had been taken by military personnel as part of a training exercise designed for both the soldiers who abducted her and for Clair herself, because even though she would never actually be a soldier even in the reserves she was still a high value target due to who raised her and as such the President had decided that there would be surprise abduction drills every so often for Clair, but the President was alerted to Clair's issues so he always made sure that she wouldn't be blindfolded and bound for extremely long periods of time, he put a time limit of half an hour for her to be bound and blindfolded, and if transportation would take longer than a half hour then even if she remained bound she was to be freed from the blindfold until they reached their destination. This time the trip was the half hour limit, but it still took fifteen minutes for Clair to be back to normal once she realized she was with friendlies and heard the explanation of what had happened and why

"Well, at least you didn't take my locket, word of warning, never and I mean  _never_  take the locket, real criminals will attempt to do so at their own peril, but since this is a simulation understand that you can make exceptions due to reasons you probably don't understand yet"

"Very well, want to spar?"

"Only if you have training robots, I don't get to use my true form often anymore due to where I am currently working, don't want to reveal anything until later, I have to keep hidden for a reason and until that reason is revealed I can't practice like I normally would, and the EDC base is just far enough out of my way that getting to it can't happen on a regular basis"

Clair would be able to get in five minutes and then the hour passed and the group called the police station as promised and had it on speaker phone

"This is the station who is this?...this is the group that took Kerenai-Masaki...I see, you might have accidentally harmed her mentally and emotionally, and I've been asked by others who care for her to make sure she still has her locket on her, it's important...this is Clair Captain, turns out this is going to happen occasionally per Presidential orders, due to reasons that only you know I am considered a high value target, basically the military abducted me per a simulation order...understood, will the EDC be informed of this?...yes they will be, in fact it's probably already happened and you're unaware of it Captain...okay then, is there a place we can pick her up?...just come to the base we'll have authorization for whoever picks Kerenai-Masaki up to enter the premises...okay we'll take a vote and call you back at this number when we know who's going...understood bye...bye"

Three hours later Clair was back at the police station, it was originally only going to be about an hour unfortunately an accident caused a two hour delay in someone coming to get her from the base and when she got there she saw a military officer in Coast Guard uniform

"Okay I'm going to ask, what's Coast Guard doing here?"

"Are you Clair Kerenai-Masaki?"

"Yes"

"I have papers for you, and I also require a signature of receipt"

"Understood"

Clair takes the papers and signs for them and then reads them, and when she does she  _pales_  which has the nearest officer coming right to her side in case she suddenly collapsed, which is ultimately what ends up happening which meant that the officer also made sure to get her to the nearest seat available

"Clair?..."

"Captain, can I use your office?, it's the only one private and secure enough to make a phone call"

"Of course, take as long as you need"

Fifteen minutes later Clair comes out of the Captain's office looking decidedly worn out

(Sighs) "I already know you have questions, so before you ask I can't tell you a lot, but I received some unexpected news regarding some family and also very close friends in the Coast Guard, Captain you know what I am talking about when I mention that my family was hurt bad enough to be taken  _home_  after emergency stabilization was done, and they may never be fit for full duty ever again, as for my friends...well I have issues to deal with because of it and if I sleep overnight might come up screaming so that's fair warning to everyone before it actually happens. Here's some rules to lay down that I should have from the beginning if I ever need to sleep here, never touch me to wake me up at my normal time for work, never and I do mean  _never_  have someone lean over me if you need something from where I happen to fall asleep if it's not at my desk, if I am tossing and turning and sounding distressed don't yell and that is also a don't touch me to wake me up, especially shaking motions, if I am covered and suddenly you notice I no longer have my covers don't try and put the covers back on, even if it's freezing and I really need it, and if I do suddenly wake up after sounding distressed, if you need to talk to me talk in calm, soft, soothing voices as best as you can manage because I might be a bit disoriented. The rules are for your safety since, and you all need to know this so don't try and stop me Captain, since I have PTSD that means if I have a flashback or nightmare while asleep and I  _always_  wake up disoriented from a PTSD episode, and daytime is just as bad in regards to disorientation depending on just how severe a flashback it is"

"Why do you even have PTSD?"

" _That_  only your Captain is cleared for, but let's just say that it ties in with how connected I am to a Japanese police station and also why I easily fit in here, even without that connection I have"

"Hey Kerenai-Masaki, got a letter for you marked urgent, since you told us your schedule at the post office for whatever reason decided to give it to you in person, rest of your mail is at your place"

"Two letters in such a short period Clair?"

"Don't ask me Captain"

Clair opens the letter and realizes it from the undercover assignment she was involved in by making sure that what was gathered was really the evidence that was needed against the group trying to kill kids by having them join certain groups too early just to get back at Clair for something some people  _still_  didn't know or understand what it was about, she nodded to herself and then went over to the paper shredder that the police station kept. A few hours later her phone rang and since it had been decided that Clair would indeed stay at the station that night she answered it

"Kerenai-Masaki...I see...I see...when did that happen?...okay...I see...how bad?...okay...have you informed...that's good...what about the...okay...what about your people?...yes I am giving you authorization since it's needed...can you repeat that?...okay I'm surprised at that...oh okay then I'll be ready just in case...okay...okay...will do...bye"

Clair hangs up and sees that everyone was looking at her wanting more information


	22. Chapter 22

"Sorry guys, can't talk yet, but it should be out in the news within the next few days, once it is in the news I can talk but not until then"

"Fine we'll wait, but if you're in trouble I will personally take you to the ring and spar you"

"Don't worry Captain you won't have to take me to the ring, though I will admit you're probably not going to be too happy with me once the full story is out"

"I don't even want to know right now do I?"

"Not without serious confusion, trust me you actually need the back story to understand what my part in that confusing conversation is"

"Fine, for now though you need to get to sleep"

"Yeah you win, just remember my rules"

"Understood"

Three days later they received the paper and the Captain decided to read a particular section out loud, mainly because it seemed to have hints of Clair's confusing conversation in it, what no one not even Clair knew was that she would have to reveal herself in full to the station but not at the moment

"Guys I have the newspaper, and also a police report to go along with it, but newspaper first. It says here that a gang of criminals that had escaped a Texas prison have been recaptured and will now stand trial for the murder of 30 law enforcement officers, including the lone surviving Texas Ranger that original captured them a few years earlier and two US Marshals that were actually involved in the hunt undercover and as such no one was aware of them until they were identified, seventeen other law enforcement officers including an FBI agent were sent to the hospital in various conditions ranging from walking wounded to serious. They were caught in Virginia heading north for another person involved in their capture who remains unnamed for security reasons though they are apparently of legal age to be named without parental consent. Due to the fact that they have killed Federal agents they now face a Federal court instead of a state court, it then goes on to mention their original crimes they were captured for and how most of the Rangers died about a year before their escape. As for the police report it has all the details of the arrest, including the names of the arresting officers, which the newspaper doesn't have for some reason, the police report also mentions..."

The Captain suddenly stops and looks directly into Clair's eyes

"Now do you see why I said you needed the newspaper first? I didn't know for sure if a police report would be included but I knew that their capture would make the news and that you would probably make a connection with my weird conversation three days ago"

"Why did you decide not to let the news know your name at the time of the original capture?"

"Like the newspaper says, part of it really is for security reasons, the other part is actually a little more personal, you have to understand something Captain, I had only been in my current environment of the time for just under three years and was still adjusting, having really only started the process just under two years before, I was still a bit of a wreck, and no guys you're still not cleared to know why I was a wreck, though right now I'm beginning to wish you were, anyways Captain as I was saying, I was basically still extremely shy and didn't want anyone to know about me and as such the news reporters respected my wishes"

"How would the criminals have found out who you were then?"

(Sighs) "I never had my name in the newspaper but don't forget you have to state your name in court, even closed court which means the criminals got my name when they had their day in court, which happened surprisingly fast for our justice system"

"Oh I did sort of forget about that part Clair"

"Figured you had"

"Okay that's it, what is going on here Captain, Kerenai-Masaki?"

"Okay, you guys do deserve to know the truth behind the newspaper report and the phone conversation three days earlier. A couple of years ago I was switching between the American school system and the Japanese school system and one day received a message saying that the Texas Rangers needed me, so I went back to America and got officially recognized as a tracker, once that happened I helped the Texas Rangers with a case they were having trouble finding the criminals on and started school in America instead of Japan that year like I normally would. The trial for sentencing happened relatively fast, though I am slightly suspicious that it happened on account of my situation, well either way I testified what I could against the criminals and figured that was the end of them once they were sentenced. Shortly before I moved here I received a letter that the criminals had escaped from the jail they were in, killing 20 police officers and prison guards to do so, a surviving officer mentioned that they were after the ones who arrested them in the first place. As it turns out about a year earlier most of the Texas Rangers died in the line of duty, so it was just me and the one surviving Ranger they could come after, now here's my speculation, once they found out that most of the arresting officers were dead they focused on where me and the lone surviving Ranger was and went after the Texas Ranger first after obviously finding out I wasn't even in state anymore, then they headed up this ways ultimately killing another ten law enforcement officers and wounding another seventeen, three of which in both categories were Federal agents and that means they faces Federal charges and the death penalty, which would have happened anyways since Texas has capital punishment in regards to the death penalty"

"So how many did they ultimately kill and injure?"

"47 law enforcement officers were either killed or wounded by these guys set on revenge"

"They're dead, if the Federal government doesn't do it, they also will be tried in Texas for the original 20 they killed in their escape and the Texas Ranger too"

"Exactly, and I'm pretty sure that the Federal government is going to go for the death penalty, they don't take the murder of Federal agents lightly"

"Does the newspaper mention funerals?"

"Yes and they're really spread out, plus it looks like two of them will be military funerals"

"Military?"

"Yep, look here at the obituaries about them"

Clair is given the paper and she sees exactly what the Captain is talking about

"You're right, they are going to be military funerals, these two are soldiers, one...I know one of them personally, or I should say I knew one of them personally, he saved my life, though I'm not going to tell you how or why, as for the other one I didn't know them personally but as a reserve he too deserves full military honors at his funeral"

"Yep, mentions the one was always reserve while the other switched to reserve after active duty"

"Yes, I remember the day he did so as well, by the way I might be needed for the criminals new trial depending on several factors, if only to finally see justice once and for all for them but don't quote me on that because I might not actually be needed, we just don't know yet"

"By the way I'm wondering something, I know you're not military, but if you were what rank would you be?"

"By law I would be ranked a Lt. and wouldn't rise above that rank ever as far as I'm aware, as it is I was training for that path before...well...you know Captain"

"Before the incident when you were ten"

"Exactly, before the incident when I was ten"

"Now then, do you need to stay at the station or is it safe for you to go home after your shift?"

"I can go home, if it becomes dangerous there's a network that will tell me to come here"

Suddenly the mailman came in again

"Kerenai-Masaki, another letter marked urgent for you"

Clair reads the letter and  _pales_

"Clair?"

"Captain, I have friends in potential trouble, if I suddenly receive another letter on shift or suddenly come here carrying a bag I will need you to prepare a fast action team, I can't explain things further now but please be prepared to make a fast action team at any time"

"Understood Kerenai-Masaki, answers when you can?"

"Exactly"

They go about their business when one day a few weeks later a soldier she was familiar with was at the police station for another officer who was in the reserves when suddenly the soldier heard a phrase and was incensed that they heard it

"Kript el kalthot"

"Why you..."

Clair had been nearby and grabbed him and struggled to keep him in place

"Stand down soldier...easy there it's alright, everything's okay, you don't have to take any actions"

"Kerenai the last time someone said that phrase you were ready to kill them and now you're saying it's alright?"

"It's a code, in this setting and for certain people that phrase is a code, normally I don't like hearing it because it was a common phrase of the group I spent seven years with, but like I said in this setting and with certain people it's alright since it's actually a special code that was developed in the year I spent simply healing from the seven harsh years away from my family, and this is one of those times, you can stand down and not do anything soldier I promise"  
The soldier calms down at hearing the explanation and then leaves it at that knowing that unless it was necessary he wasn't cleared to know anything further about why that phrase was a code amongst a certain group or why it was being used that way or even in this situation

_Few years ago_

"Clair, there's something that's come up, apparently there's a child that was brought into the police station and the child says that they were forced to be part of the terrorist group they were discovered in, they've been put into the hospital after some brutal treatment, not authorized by me or the Japanese government by the way"

"Is the child stable enough for me to ask questions?"

"Yes, but not for long periods"

"Don't worry it won't take long for me to discern the truth"

Five hours later Clair left the child's room in the hospital and everyone could tell she wasn't happy

"That's it, something important has to be done and fast, we need to find a way to properly identify those that have been forced to be part of a terrorist group by force, basically a terrorist cell survivor code"

"How will those forced into it know about the code?"

"Don't worry I have my ways of getting word out"

"And the code?"

(Sighs) "I really hate hearing this, but the code will be Kript el kalthot, something not easily recognized by many terrorist cells"

"Fine, be careful about how you're going to get word out"

"Don't worry I will be"

_Present_

Clair had managed to get the code out through one of the people she saw on a regular basis who wouldn't get out of the business she had gotten out of because they felt it best they stay on the inside, having been sent undercover a long time ago with regular contact with the outside world. Hearing the code today made Clair glad she had trusted the inside agent and that the code was known and used at need. As soon as she heard the code she went into the interrogation room and stayed there for several hours, already knowing that answers were needed for the rest of the station considering what had just happened, but since she knew the group she was after was ready to be taken out and the inside people brought out safely she knew it was time to reveal her past since it was integrated into the mission she was helping with that involved undercover work

"Hey, my name is Clair Kerenai-Masaki, and I want to help you as much as possible"

"What's going to happen to me?"

"First off we'll need your name and age and then we'll go from there"

"Marcus, Marcus Henderson and I'm fifteen years old"

"I remember you, your parents declared you missing about two years ago and whenever possible law enforcement has been looking for you since"

"You mean whenever a lead comes which I doubt is often"

"You're right, it isn't often enough that we get leads on any kids, but we do try"

"Can I go home after all the questioning is done?"

"We'll call your grandparents and go from there, unfortunately your parents died in an accident about a year ago"

"How do you know this Kerenai-Masaki?"

"Because of who my parents were, I thought I recognized your name"

"I'm not surprised Marcus, after all EDC and military kids are all taught about me depending on what age they are"

"Exactly"

"Now then I'm going to get some things taken care of, but understand that you're safe now, the ones who had you will only get you over my dead body, and I mean that literally and that will be very hard for them to do and if they  _do_  succeed somehow it won't be without serious injury which means you might still ultimately escape since I know you can defend yourself when given the chance"

"I know, I also think you might have some explaining to do with your fellow police officers"

"Not a police officer, but I do have some explaining to do because of a conversation I just had with a soldier"

"Thought you were a police officer"

"Nope, hoping to, but I have other things to worry about first"

Suddenly though there was a commotion and shouting, and Clair's eyes turned hazel immediately at hearing some of the shouting knowing those vocal tones, and once she was outside she confirmed her suspicions about some of the enemy

"Quintessons, Captain call the EDC I'm going to slow those creeps down for a while, and by the way I already know I have some major explaining to do in regards to my conversation with the soldier so I might as well go all out from the start"

"Understood Kerenai-Masaki, um, you do know about your eyes are now hazel"

"Yes I knew about that, see you in a bit"

And so Clair went out to fight Quintessons and Sharkticons using every tactic in her book including several chain attacks, a few sword attacks and several times just making cracks in the ground, all while getting physical and not getting a scratch on her and the officers fighting by her side as best they could were also noticing that they weren't getting injured either when suddenly one of the Sharkticons actually managed to get her with one of their weapons, and it was a serious injury too, though Clair wouldn't show it when suddenly the EDC and some of her family showed up and quickly finished the enemy. Once the dust had metaphorically settled the police Captain immediately went over to Clair

"Clair you're hurt"

"Yeah...it's bad...need surgery...imme...diately"

Clair passes out from blood loss and is rushed to the hospital with the officers looking to the Captain for the questions they now had

"I'm not allowed to answer, once she's medically cleared she'll answer any questions you might have for her since it  _is_  needed"

"Captain, Clair was hurt pretty seriously, did you see the weapon that injured her?"

"Yep, hang on I can identify it easily since it has markings I've never seen even on Quintesson weapons you've had me look out for in the past"

The Captain looks at the confiscated weapons and carefully picks one up

"Here's the weapon Lt., this is the sword that managed to get past Clair's defenses"

"Oh her family isn't going to like this"

"Which family Lt.?"

"Either of them, and actually for some they aren't even on planet right now since it got a bit dangerous"

Suddenly an officer came out with a piece of paper

"Captain, there's a message for you, written by Kerenai-Masaki, I recognize her handwriting any where's since she's the one who writes up my reports for the moment"

"While your hands and eyesight recover from that chemical explosion a few weeks ago, you were only just cleared for desk duty last week"

The Captain reads the message and realizes that he had more important things to take care of first

"Lt. I have a question, is the reason Kerenai-Masaki's family is off planet because of this group that she's been getting reports about and that the ones undercover now need to be brought safely out"

"Let me see that?"

The Lt. also takes a look and quickly sees that it's exactly why her family is off planet

"Yep it's those guys alright, they made an active threat against her family and they had to leave the planet for their own safety, and as such went to Cybertron until they receive word it's safe to be back on Earth"

"Okay"

"Hey Captain, did we see her true fighting style today?"

"Yes you did, and remember everyone, she is  _dangerous_  with her actual fighting style, even without weapons involved she can fight"

"No kidding, it was almost like it was a dance for her, but I couldn't recognize any formal martial arts forms in her fighting style"

"That's partially because she was moving too fast for you to actually notice her moves long enough to recognize a style, and the other part is because she doesn't actually have one form of martial arts, she's mastered five martial arts and learned the basics of two others and can smoothly mix and match her mastered arts with the other two thrown in on occasion to add that much more confusion in her fighting style. Add in the weapons she can use and that means she really has no formal style of fighting at all which in her situation is actually best for her"

"They're right, Clair once mentioned that she has to be the best she possibly can be, and when she was asked what could happen if she wasn't in peak condition she didn't give a rhetorical answer or answer like it was a joke, she gave the serious answer of how if she isn't at peak condition people could die or be captured, her included thus why she practices in secret and as hard as she can when she does so"

"By the way, shouldn't we be at the hospital right now?"

"No, Clair would want us to do our duty before we see her at the hospital, besides she's in surgery"

"Fine, but as soon as it's possible some of us are going"

"Understood"

Three hours later those that could be were at the hospital and found that Clair was still in surgery and her family off planet were on their way home

"How long does surgery take?"

"It all depends officer, it really all depends"

"That means you don't know"

"No it means that there are several factors involved in surgery, how serious an injury is, where in the body the injury is, how long it took for them to be stabilized to actually get to surgery, and if they find more damage than initially found while in surgery that takes up more time and possibly more specialists involved unexpectedly, now then if you want we can start giving you hourly reports but that's the best I can offer"

"By the way, weapon?"

"EDC is looking at it even now, no idea yet how it got past her defenses, you'll be told part of the story later, full story apparently has to come from Kerenai-Masaki herself"

"Okay"

Fifteen minutes later a doctor came out looking for Clair's family and ultimately telling the officers that Clair would be fine eventually and that they were keeping her there for a few days just in case of complications either from the surgery itself or from the blood fusions that Clair needed due to how massive the blood loss was

"Understood, when can she have visitors?"

"Not for a few hours yet, now then we do have her hooked up to a vent for a few more hours and she's also tied to the bed in case..."

"She needs those ties undone,  _now_ "

"Now look here..."

"Doctor you don't understand, she'll..."

Suddenly though a nurse ran up to the doctor

"Doctor, your patient in room 214 is in a state of panic and will hurt themselves if something isn't done about the restraints"

"Undo them, men I've got to go I have a panicking patient on my hands"

The officers follow though knowing for a fact that there was a possibility that the patient was Clair and when they got there it was indeed Clair in room 214, her restraints were undone at the hands, but she was still flailing around and they could see that the doctor was about to order the restraints back on her when the one EDC officer in the group shouted something that would instantly calm her down

"Sting ray Kerenai-Masaki, sting ray"

Clair immediately stops fighting and looks to the door with wide eyes, her breathing still fast but calming down by the second

"That's right Clair, you're safe, you're in the hospital, do you remember the fight?"

Clair nods and instantly eases back into the bed knowing now where she was, she wasn't sure about the restraints quite yet but she knew she was safe in a hospital and easily listened to the doctor when he mentioned he was getting the breathing tube in her throat out which he did

"Now then, if you remain calm I won't put you back in restraints young lady"

"Bad...bad idea doctor"

"What for Ms. Kerenai-Masaki?"

"PTSD, being bound is one of my triggers, we've gotten it to where I can handle a short time but not for long periods of time and since I was under the influence of drugs that made me confused and disoriented, that on top of being restrained sent me into flashback"

"Well we have to do something to ensure you don't hurt yourself, or others if you start thrashing around suddenly"

"True,hm..."

Ultimately it was the EDC officer who hit upon the solution

"I know, music, if she hears music she'll calm down, that does mean a nurse will have to be with her every sleeping moment to catch her in the midst of a PTSD episode at night, or even nightmares but I don't think she really heard music during her seven years away from home"

"You're right, I wasn't really allowed music at all, what little I did catch was from the moments I snuck away from the group and did people watching to remind myself why I was staying away from my family instead of breaking and going to a police station or EDC base before it was time"

"Of course, I've seen research supporting your idea, something not naturally in the environment in their minds interrupts the memory and will bring them back much quicker than something that might be in the environment in their minds and memory"

They quickly get music back to the hospital along with a player and quickly had to put it to the test since Clair was still tired from her surgery (she would be in and out of it for the rest of the day and most likely part of the next as well)

"Okay nurse, this is your only patient for the moment, you need to watch her for disturbed sleep and I do mean  _watch_ , if she does start thrashing around you're to start playing this music until she calms down again, and keep doing so until she actually wakes up"

"Pass the word to the next shift?"

"Exactly, and let them know that those orders are from me and that I'm on call in case she needs me"

And so for the next five days a nurse was by her side during the time she was asleep and the music was indeed needed a few times, but finally Clair was released and given another week of rest before she was allowed to go back to work considering that she simply worked at the desk at the police station. During her time in the hospital she had finally told the station her full story and they told her that they were making plans to get the undercover people out from their assignment as safely as possible

"Got my message then Captain?"

"Yes I did Kerenai-Masaki, is the undercover mission why you're at the station?"

"Yep, I figured if I ran into trouble I could come to you guys and you would help me easier if you already knew me then if I suddenly arrived one day asking for help"

"For something like this you're right, it was better that we already know you since this ways we know that this isn't some sort of hoax and that you're going to be right behind us aren't you?"

"Yep"

"What about doctor's orders?"

"I know my body best, by the way has the EDC told you anything about that weapon that got me?"

"No, I would think that they would have told you since you were the one wounded by it"

"Haven't heard from them"

Suddenly an EDC officer came in at just the right moment

"That's because we needed your family to confirm our suspicions Clair, we did some tests and thought we had the weapon identified, but considering what the weapon was we needed your family to confirm our results were right this time due to...sticky relationships otherwise"

"How sticky are we talking about?"

"One false accusation and we go to war"

"That's sticky alright, so what's the weapon?"

"A Orosanthsa war sword, used in battle several millennia ago against the people who accidentally gave you your abilities, and a group we only recently came into peace talks with"

"Orosanthsa war sword? I thought that even though we don't have a peace treaty with them they banned those weapons a few thousand years ago, and as such the weapon is actually illegal"

"You may be right, as such we're going to have to ask if they've ever fought the Quintessons and then go from there, hopefully without backtracking on the peace talks"

"Agreed because those are important"

"And Clair, as the wounded person we want you involved in those talks"

"POTUS will have to allow it all things considered"

"I know, but don't forget we can't actually do anything about that other problem until later due to...issues as you well know"

"Fine"

As it would ultimately turn out the Orosanthsa had indeed fought the Quintessons a while back and had lost men and weapons due to capture, as such peace talks weren't set back because of the weapons use, the Orosanthsa, once realizing that the EDC were also enemies of the Quintessons realized that maybe, just maybe their thoughts about some of the other races were wrong, that they weren't all like the Quintessons, which was the main reason they had gone to war with the people who had given Clair her powers in the first place. They were scared and wanted to protect themselves from ever being attacked again and as such went about it in the wrong way not realizing that maybe talking would be better than attacking first and never talking or talking so much later that peace was much harder to attain


	23. Chapter 23

"What do you want us to do with the sword we...confiscated from the Quintessons?"

"Destroy it, we did indeed ban those weapons many years ago, partly because we realized that it was cruel to others and also because the making of the weapon is actually dangerous to our health and as such we stopped making them"

"Do you have a means to destroy it safely then?"

"Yes, we will tell your people how to safely destroy any of our weapons that we have forbidden, those still in use we will not tell you how to destroy since they are vital for us"

"Understood"

"One more thing, this is Clair Kerenai-Masaki and she was the one who was injured by the war blade, we wanted her here in case you needed further proof that we needed the information"

"I also have a proposition for you, one that no one is actually aware of"

"What kind of proposition?"

"Training, proper training in the ways of diplomacy and also some training in how to defend yourselves without the use of your current weapons"  
"And why would we give up our weapons?"

"Because they're slowly killing you...don't lie to me I can tell"

(Sighs) "I thought we were hiding the symptoms pretty well, we only noticed this ourselves a few months ago, but decided not to say anything so as to not appear weak"

"You are hiding the symptoms, so long as you don't have a means of monitoring one's health, I have such a means and am constantly using it at my current job since they are  _so stubborn_  about their health, when I found out they wanted me in these parts of the talks I decided to keep an eye on everyone involved, EDC and Orosanthsa's alike"

"It's actually worse than what you think, you're right in saying that we're dying from our current weapons, as it is we will actually be all but gone in a few human generations, maybe fifty to a hundred years and there will be none of us left"

And that's when Clair realizes something else about the Orosanthsa that no one else had noticed

"You're a proud race of people aren't you?, so proud you don't like to admit when something is wrong and you yourselves need help"

"How can you tell?"

"I have my ways and reasons, we can also get you medical help, but you  _must_  let down your barriers and admit you need help"

"There's more we can do, however there is one weapon we really can never give up, one we're going to have to modify to prevent killing us"

"Oh?"

"Yep, it's a special stun gun, we based it off your taser system but it's...different at the same time, and the process to create it isn't the safest either, but it's much safer than that sword that almost killed you"

"We'll make sure of it, after our talks are finished"

Fortunately with everything explained on both sides a peace treaty  _and_  trade agreement were made and soon enough the Orosanthsa's were getting medical treatment and training in diplomacy and how to make safer weapons for themselves. Though Clair wouldn't find out for a bit the Orosanthsa were able to start repopulating themselves within two years and had more peace agreements with former enemies within one year, plus they finally learned that their innate pride had it's time and place but that if it was hindering their health and lives of their people that it wasn't the time to be a proud people, though they could always be proud of the fact that they were one of the few who could defeat the Quintessons initially without outside help, a distinction pretty much only known also to the Cybertronians though the Cybertronians also knew of two other races who had also succeeded in that aspect they were more shy about it and didn't really talk to others, preferring to keep to themselves as much as possible, though they did have trade agreements. Meanwhile Clair and the police made plans for the undercover mission that Clair was part of through confirmation of information that needed to be done and everything went according to plan and those that wanted to get kids killed because of Clair would have their day in court as she knew, and she also found out that she had to deal with the criminals that had escaped a Texas prison and killed Federal agents and plenty of officers before being stopped

"So what first?"

"First is the report directly to POTUS, then we'll take things as they come due to the fact that while I have been informed I need to be in court for the escaped prisoners they haven't set an exact date yet for even a preliminary hearing, something about talking to Texas about a special arrangement of some sort but I don't know what it is"

"Which means these guys might actually come first"

"Nope, Supreme Court is getting themselves involved this time because of the fact that Senators are being implicated and the Supreme Court is always aware of my current location and what I am involved in at any given time, partly because of POTUS because I may have decided not to join the armed forces but the government still has their eyes on me for reasons most of you aren't allowed to know about"

"By the way Clair, heard you screaming the past few nights"

"Yeah, normal blocks aren't working currently, and you know full well why, otherwise you wouldn't have known about my lack of sleep recently"

"Yep, I know full well what's going on with you and quite frankly we're all concerned"

"Hopefully after all the trials are done I can get sleep again, either that or...or I resort to some drastic measures that my family and I have been hoping to avoid ever since I came home"

"For now though you have that report don't you?"

"Exactly, I have that report, and then I have orders that must be obeyed, orders that have been delayed a bit long in all honesty"

"Orders?"

"Yep, police academy, I can finally physically attend like I was supposed to after graduation, until this whole mess came up"

Clair then went to the white house to make a direct report to the President so that he knew what would need to be done and then he decided to bring something up that he had planned for a while now but had delayed because of the undercover mission that needed done

"So sources tell me you wrote a song recently, during a period of bad sleep"

"Clair?"

"Yes I did, it was originally for my fellow graduates who weren't exactly happy with me recently. As to the story behind the song, as you know I recorded my time in the terrorist group, but subconsciously I didn't record everything that happened while under the control of drugs, the recent lack of sleep was because I was remembering something during my first year under the influence of those drugs, and the reason I didn't talk to the therapist originally is because I forgot it due to what had happened. I managed to integrate the new memories with my old memories and deal with the emotions so we're good with that, during that rough period though I thought of a song for a potential talent show my school was thinking about, that wouldn't fully reveal things to them but at the same time I decided that it was time for them to learn just how long I was gone from my family, which meant revealing my true age, I didn't want them surprised at the graduation ceremony originally since before I decided to become a police officer I was considering joining the armed forces and I needed them to understand just how long this was delayed"

"Can you sing it for the troops before you actually go to the police academy?"

"Sure"

A few days later she was at a USO concert for the troops and had speech for them first

"Hey guys, before I sing this song I just have something important to say to those who graduated with me because I know you're in the crowd, now then you're still not cleared on a lot about me but this song will reveal some things that no one not part of the EDC or military knows but I can give clearance myself since it involves me and what I've been through. The song will do most of the explaining but what happened in the song is why I graduated so late, and why I did what I did, but only those of greater rank know the true story about me and that's the way it has to be"

Clair was given a guitar and she started to sing

"You think you know everything about me, you think you've seen it all, but I can tell you now, that you're not as experienced as you think. You're just kids playing cool, you haven't seen the world, well let me tell you right now, I have and it's so different from what you know. I've spent almost half my life away from home, protecting my family from hidden danger that only I knew of. You think you're ready for the world, you are ready to go to the work force, some of you may join the military, but even then, you'll only see a drop of what I've seen. You haven't seen anything, until you've spent your life fighting for your family, well let me tell you something. I've spent almost half my life away from home, protecting my family from hidden danger that only I knew of. When you go to bed tonight, thinking you're going to take on the world, just remember one thing, you've only started your life, you don't know what's ahead, you don't know the world but you will learn some thing's, but others you can't imagine, well let me tell you that I can for one simple reason, yeah I've spent almost half my life away from home, protecting my family from hidden danger that only I knew of. When you think of home you think of your friends and family, but at least you've been home all your life, well me, I've spent almost half my life away from home, protecting my family from hidden danger that only I knew of"

Clair ended the song and her fellow graduates were shocked at what she had told them while those who were actually cleared to know about her were shocked that she had admitted as much as she had, and also finally had a better understanding of why she had spent seven years away from home

"Well I have to go folks, but the wonderful people of the USO still has more of the concert to do so enjoy it while you can and see you at home possibly depending on several factors"

With that Clair went back home and started her first day of the police academy with a group of new cadets, due to her circumstances she knew it had been a possibility as did those in charge of the academy, but they had also had plans to place her with the first available class if a new round hadn't been coming in when she was available to actually attend, the instructors introduced themselves and then Clair speaks up

"Sir request permission to speak with the commanding officer of the academy"

"What for cadet?"

"For security reasons I can't tell you in front of the class sir"

"Fine, tell me in my ear since I am the commanding officer of the academy"

The head of the academy comes over and Clair makes sure to speak loud enough for the officer to hear but quiet enough that no one else would hear

"I might be called to court twice for two different cases depending on how fast the justice system moves to give the two cases a trial, one in federal court the other isn't that I'm aware of, but could be wrong"

"Understood, make sure that I receive your orders as well by whoever gives them to you"

"Already done sir, POTUS involved in giving orders despite the fact I decided not to join the armed forces, you have my portfolio on your desk to understand why POTUS is involved"

"Right will read your file immediately then"

The two separate and the rest of the morning is routine for new cadets, including basic hand to hand which Clair was painfully slow at since what they were being taught was how to take down a suspect without injury or serious injury if they resisted arrest, only the instructors and one cadet actually noticed how slow Clair was going and for the one cadet that was because he was going almost as slow having also actually trained in the martial arts, getting a good way before stopping to attend the police academy

"Cadet Kerenai-Masaki, geeze that's a mouthful, are you wanting to spar training robots in your spar time?"

"Perhaps instructor, and sir I know my last name is a mouthful, it's due to adoption and together we will figure out a shorter method of saying my name when it's not completely required"

"Thank you, we were waiting for your permission to do so, come meet us after dinner and we'll discuss it"

"Understood sir"

Finally it was dinner time and after a quick bite to eat Clair went over to the instructors to try and figure out a shorter method of identifying her while at the academy except when her full last name was actually needed for legal purposes or for other reasons

"You know, we could just go with my last name before the adoption, either that or I'll answer to both Kerenai or Masaki depending on what you say at the time"

"Let's go with the second one, that ways it's still part of your last name and you're the only person with such a unique last name either way"

"You have a point, even if it involves adoption and by the way Masaki is Japanese as for Kerenai I have no clue how my family got that last name but they do so it is what it is"

"Understood"

"Oh another safety feature we have to discuss, if I spar I can go into flashback and not realize where I am we need a way of bringing me back to the present"

"Do you have any code words or phrases to identify specific people or groups in any situation?"

"Actually I do for the EDC officers and members of my family I have Sting ray, maybe we can train for me to recognize normal police officers as well"

"It will take lots of training to do so though"

"But most likely worth it, you have to admit having a way of safely stopping me is handy, plus you also need to learn when to tell I need the code phrase"

"That's true, we'll most likely just have to figure things out as we go"

"So I know it's bed time so I'll just get going, and again don't worry sir you'll know when I need to be else where's when I know"

And soon Clair got into the routine of the academy when only a month in Clair suddenly wakes up with a knife in her hand naturally in the reverse grip and her eyes hazel, she had long since trained herself not to wake up screaming after any of her nightmares or memories as such she knew that as long as her blocks were up she was the only person who had woken up. Checking her watch she found out that it was an hour before she normally got up and as such she decided to get an early start on her routine and so slipped quietly out of bed and got ready for a morning run. Once outside she did stretches like normal

"Okay I think today I will do a two mile run before practice today"

What Clair didn't know was that someone had noticed her up and already out, it was one of the police instructors who had night watch. Now all the instructors had taken turns on night watch and initially were concerned about her waking up an hour before everyone else but quickly discovered her routine of getting up early and doing her own version of practice and exercise and as such quickly just took to making sure that she was safe on the compound and otherwise leaving her alone, but this time the instructor knew that he would have to reveal himself due to the break in routine

"Cadet, what are you doing up and about so early?"

Clair starts and quickly turns around

"Instructor Carson, I was...I was woken up due to a nightmare and decided to just get warmed up early today, might actually get a little something to eat as well since I'm up so early and will already have done morning workout routines by the time the others are awake"

"Are you sure you're okay Kerenai-Masaki?"

"Yes sir, I'm sure"

"Very well, however I expect you to be at morning workout with the rest of the cadets is that understood?"

"Yes sir"

"Carry on then cadet"

Clair finishes her normal routine and then like always joins the rest of her fellow cadets in their daily morning workout, and that day they got a surprise, the group had been training in gun safety and actually using tasers on occasion plus using most of the other equipment, but due to...incidents in the first week of class the instructors had forbidden live fire training with any of the weapons they might use including their duty side arm until they felt everyone would be safe on the range, but only Clair had realized what was going on due to her past experiences and also knew to keep quiet about it. Once on the range she let the instructors teach their way and then proceeded to handle the weapon like the expert she truly was which the instructors had actually planned on and as such knew that she was only pretending to listen because she knew why the instructors had done what they had and was keeping her silence on the matter which they appreciated


	24. Chapter 24

"Good Kerenai, you're grouping very close which is sometimes needed"

"Habit actually and you now know full well why since by now you've read my file"

"Yes we do, see us afterwords to talk about something"

"Understood sir"

"Carry on cadet"

Suddenly though everyone hears an explosion and leaves the gun range, Clair ahead of everyone but the instructors if only because of the fact that three of them were actually at the entrance to the gun range and as such had a slight head start. They get to the area of the explosion and see fire and smoke which makes Clair speak up with a concerned voice

"Someone please tell me our people weren't in that area"

"Sorry Masaki, but that's a training area as well and it was in use today"

"Right, get paramedics on standby for smoke inhalation I'm going in"

"Kerenai!"

Clair doesn't listen to the instructors though and instead heads right into the flames with her shields up naturally which meant her eyes were hazel and she started the evacuation process that she knew was needed. Three  _hours_  later she had finished what she could and the fire was also out and the Fire Captain was not a happy camper with Clair

"You, Masaki, paramedics immediately you've been in there too long and you've been hacking up a lungful each time"

"No...problem...Captain...your...men?"

" _They_  are fine due to required breathing equipment, one might have gotten a mild burn from that beam falling on him but that is most likely the worst of the injuries on my men you on the other hand went in basically without any protection and how you avoided being burned I have no idea"

"See...academy leader...tell him...give you...files, have my permission"

Clair goes into a serious coughing fit as the price to speak normally for a few moments and as soon as she gets near a paramedic gets put on oxygen and ultimately transported to the hospital which the academy instructors had honestly expected due to her being in the fire the longest without any protection from the smoke

"Miss can you write down your name?"

Clair quickly has a piece of paper and actually writes a full report for the hospital including her suspicions on what started the fire and signed with her full name since it could potentially be evidence and as such her full legal name was needed on the report, she simply hands the piece of paper back and then doesn't talk even at the hospital for about two hours, mainly because she was still basically hacking up a lung with each breath

"You Kerenai-Masaki have one of the most severe cases of smoke inhalation that we've ever had, your powers are the only reason you aren't also severely burned and yes I am cleared to know since I am technically an EDC doctor but am pulling a few extra shifts at the hospital for reasons only known to me and the EDC"

Eventually Clair was cleared to leave the hospital, but was under orders to not physically exert herself for at least 48 hours and the instructors at the academy knew better than to disobey medical orders due to an incident a couple of years earlier when that particular academy was still pretty new to training police cadets, the resulting investigation found out that while the instructors weren't entirely at fault due to the cadet lying about how they were doing they still should have made sure that the cadet followed doctors orders about rest

"Well Masaki, looks like all you're really allowed to do is weapons training and classwork, unless we can find something else for you to do without physically exerting yourself"

"Are there any cases the academy is working on? I could give you another perspective until I am medically cleared for physical activity again"

"You have a point"

Suddenly though one of the instructors came in and talked in quiet tones to another instructor and that is how later that night Clair was at a bar and decided that she'd had enough so she went to the bar tender who was wondering if she was going to ask for another drink and knew that the person was almost at the limit of what bar tender was allowed to give

"Can I help you?"

"Can you call me a cab? I'm ready to leave but am not safe to drive, here's my car keys and I'll be back to pick up my car when it's safe or have someone come pick it up later"

"Sure"

Fifteen minutes later she gave the cab driver the information they needed and when she got back to where she was currently staying she looked at the people who were waiting for her and did her best to glare at them

"If you have to do this again for this class you're going to have to volunteer someone else because I'm not doing it again"

"No problems Clair, now get some sleep, and normally we wouldn't do this but there's a reason we're having an actual cadet being too drunk to drive tomorrow, oh and we had people waiting for you in case you made a poor decision"

"Too ingrained to make a mistake, explain later"

"Very well"

The next day Clair came to class with a massive hangover and really wished the instructors had allowed painkillers

"Alright everyone, two things, first of all normally when we do this portion of class we have special goggles to replicate impaired driving, either through drinking or through drugs of any sort, including prescription medications, unfortunately ours are currently being used at a high school since the police department currently does not have any because they broke for some reason, and that leads me to the second point, if you are ever doing presentations at school for a drivers education class the goggles will always be in use, unless there's a special program going on at the school, now then we're going to show you the field sobriety tests that you will perform in your course of duties if you suspect drunk driving"

Clair does the tests and ultimately fails

"Now then at this point in time the person will be placed under arrest for drinking and driving and if there are any fatalities at the scene they will be charged with that at the same time, and if anyone dies later they will be charged with vehicular manslaughter then, now everyone but Kerenai-Masaki is going to be going through some driving maneuvers"

"Yeah, can I get some painkillers and then go back to bed? I am  _not_  safe to drive as you well know and quite frankly I am not going to be very good at any other class today either because of this"

"Yes you have the day off, if at any time you feel you need medical attention let someone know and they'll take you to the hospital okay?"

"Okay by me, but honestly I think all I need is painkillers, sleep and maybe some food before I go back to bed"

"Okay, we'll ask for more about your statement last night once you're feeling better"

"Last night?"

"Yes, you said it was too ingrained in you to make a stupid mistake"

"Yeah, that needs to wait until later my head is pounding, my stomach isn't doing the greatest either and as such I am hoping all I need is food, and I am starting to get really irritable"

"We'll also get you something for your stomach then too"

"Oh, since you know where I was last night can you send someone to pick up my car?"

"Sure thing Clair"

Clair sleeps off the alcohol and then explains how it was too ingrained to make a stupid mistake in regards to drinking and driving. All EDC kids had been warned about the affects of drinking and driving from a young age, they were also taught about other stupid mistakes that could cost themselves or others their lives, as such unless it was the other driver or they were witnesses all EDC kids were never involved in a drunk driving accident


	25. Chapter 25

"Well you still have about 24 hours before you can be physically exerted and we gave you today off anyways so do something on campus that relaxes you that isn't exercise of some sort and then you'll be back at classes tomorrow"

"Understood sir"

The next day the cadets learned of the various departments in the police and how nationally some police departments had a mounted division which meant that horses were involved

"Our area doesn't have any horses since they aren't really needed, but we are partnered with another police academy that does have horses and we'll be going to them soon enough for some training since you never know if you'll join a department that uses horses or even might handle horses depending on the situation"

A cadet raises their hand

"What do you mean by handling them?"

"Easy, sometimes police officers will work hand in hand with animal rescue organizations and if it involves horses you have to know how to be safe around them and how to get them into trailers for transportation"

"When will that happen?"

"That all depends on our partner academy actually, they do have indoor facilities but at the same time they have to have students working with equines, that's another word for horse by the way, in either capacity first and they just had a class go through that course before you guys started and it can take up to three weeks before horses are involved in a new class"

"And we've been here about a month already"

"It also depends on how fast the instructors can start other basic skills with the cadets and as such while it normally only takes up to three weeks it can sometimes take longer, once it was two whole months before a class was able to go to our partner academy, then again part of the problem that time was our partner academy had...issues that delayed horse classes"

Clair knew exactly what the issues were too, because those issues involved one of the cases she was waiting to hear about going to court for, shortly before Clair had been called back to America early the Texas Rangers had needed to borrow horses from other police departments around the country and the partner academy was one of the places that had loaned horses to the Rangers, unfortunately the horses all had wounds by the end of the chase and while all the horses would heal eventually it still took time for the wounds to heal and the Texas Rangers paid all medical expenses to all departments that had loaned the horses to them but while the horses were healing they couldn't be used and as such it delayed classes

"In any case while we're waiting on word for when we can send our class there for a week or two we'll continue learning other areas of our job and what each division of the police department is responsible for and how they go about their jobs"

Suddenly though another instructor came in and gave Clair two pieces of paper, one which had the white house on it and one with only her name in English, she went with the white house one first if only because it meant that it was from the President and possibly important, and it ultimately was since it gave her the dates she had to be in court for the cases of the escaped criminals and possible corrupt Senators, her family one mentioned that Masaki was thinking about adopting another child and that her Cybertronian family was all for it but that it was ultimately also up to her since it meant bringing someone new into the clan, and the only reason the Cybertronians were for it was the fact that the kid had parents that were part of the civilian support crew of the EDC, having actually retired from the EDC shortly before Clair had left the terrorist organization she had joined for seven years due to the fact that they had the kid about a year before and had decided to partially retire until given the option of civilian support in Japan with keeping their clearance. Clair knew she would have to meet the kid before she made her decision but at the moment it wasn't a good time since she had been dealing with a PTSD flareup since the sudden explosion, and the instructors had started to notice that Clair was struggling but they weren't sure what was causing it even with having access to her file. The class continued daily shooting practice and learning about the other departments and everyone was starting to get a little jealous of Clair's ability to handle any weapon not knowing of her background

"Kerenai you're just too good at weapons, any weapon the instructors give you you get a perfect score every time"

"That's because of my situation when I was younger, something you won't know about for years possibly depending on several factors"

Suddenly the instructors came in and told them to grab their bags

"What's going on?"

"Finally time for you guys to go to our neighboring academy and learn about horses, except you Masaki, you have other duties to attend to and we've heard from another organization that you already know how to ride"

"Oh is this group known to you?"

"Yep, and some of their members are here now for a special trial, which you guys are going to actually attend as well"

"Then why are we going to the neighboring academy?"

"Oh that's simple, you're going for a half day and watching the trial the other half since for some reason the courts have decided to do half day trials for these guys"

"Oh I know why they're doing that but I'm not going to spoil the reason or the surprise, and are those members here to give me a ride?"

"Yep, they said something about not being sure if you would actually make it on time if they didn't personally escort you, something about you being late before without escort"

"That wasn't my fault and they know it, but I see their point, reminded them that they have no jurisdiction here right?"

"Yep they've been reminded alright"

"Good"

"And if nothing else you have emergency authority to allow them to act as law officers"

"Since when?"

"Since this just came in with them, someone knew you were here as this has your name on it, we got a copy so that we know it's legitimate and legal"

Clair reads the paper and sees that it's signed by the President, though the group doesn't know this for obvious reasons

"Okay then just making sure I won't get in trouble"

Clair goes to where the car was and the rest of the cadets are really, really confused to see people wearing basically cowboy outfits with what was obviously a badge of some sort pinned on but they didn't recognize the badge from a distance and also didn't recognize a cowboy outfit as a uniform

"Okay is anyone else confused about what we just saw?"

"Oh I know you cadets are confused, but answers will be in the courts, and by the way they may not technically have the authority they would have in their home state but they  _are_  officers of the law outranking any of you cadets at a moments notice if Kerenai so decides"

"Emergency power to empower them as law officers?"

"Yes, there's a reason she has that emergency power which you aren't going to find out, for the most part they will be acting solely as witnesses for one of the cases being held in Federal court in making sure that final justice will be played out, justice that for them is a long time coming"

"How come?"

"Again you'll find that out in court"

And so the cadets watched a Federal court procedure learning that most things are the same but that there were also differences, and that's when they learned that the law officers they didn't recognize, that were wearing a very weird uniform and unrecognized badge were Texas Rangers, law officers that could not legally be disbanded such is their importance to Texas. Clair was forced to reveal some of her past with the Rangers due to having to testify in court about certain aspects of the original case, she also herself found out that Texas had decided to combine their case with the Federal case because the criminals were charged with thirty counts of murdering a law enforcement officer which included several Texas Rangers and another seventeen counts of injuring a law enforcement officer, plus various other crimes the criminals committed during their run from the law

"Clair Kerenai-Masaki, where were you when these criminals escaped?"

"I had just recently finished High School, being several years behind my age mates and there were other things going on as well, things that I'm afraid must remain a secret due to security issues. I actually found out about their escape through a letter per certain rules and regulations regarding me, unfortunately I couldn't join due to other obligations that again I can't state for security reasons, I found out about their capture through a phone call and the full details through the Captain of a police station I was working at before joining the academy, and the police report that came with a newspaper gave me the details I was unaware of by a simple phone call"

"Why were you so far behind your age mates?"

"If this was a closed court I would fully explain, as it is again I can't due to a security reason, I'm sorry but only POTUS can countermand security reasons for me not to speak up"

"POTUS?"

"Yes also known as the President of the United States of America"

"Very well we won't ask any further questions"

After a week the case against the escaped criminals was over with and the prisoners were sentenced to death, for the second week of riding classes Clair was there the entire time and the cadets quickly found out that Clair could ride

"You're doing well for a beginner Kerenai-Masaki"

"I'm not a beginner though, if you've been following a case that involves Texas Rangers they taught me to ride and I keep it up whenever possible, as such I know how to ride, now then I don't do any fancy rodeo riding but I can ride any horse I am on easily and can quickly learn their quirks and habits which allows me the ability to ride them to their full potential and also allows a bond of trust at the very least to form quickly so that we can do whatever it is that is needed"

"Okay you win, but you still need to pass this course before going back to your academy, it's a rule that was agreed upon when they first realized that this sort of arrangement was needed"

"But of course, you must absolutely make sure that cadets will always be safe around horses"

"Kerenai, there's a phone call for you now, something about the trial we witnessed"

Clair goes pale because there shouldn't be a call about the trial so soon and she knew it

"This is Kerenai-Masaki...I see...anyone hurt?...okay...okay...thank you for informing me...what about the...okay that's good...bye"

"Masaki?"

"The criminals are dead, killed in an escape attempt by US Marshals escorting them to a Federal penitentiary awaiting their execution date"

"So it's finally over then?"

"For those criminals yes, but for another group it's only just about to begin"

"Huh?"

"Sorry not explaining that one, period"

"But otherwise it's basically over?"

"Yes, the criminals were going to be executed anyways due to their crimes, they just died faster than they would have originally is all"

"What I'm wondering is why Texas decided to combine their court case with the Federal court case"

"Well, it isn't fully combining the court cases, from what I heard from the Texas Rangers is that originally they were in discussion with the Federal court system to see who got first crack at the criminals and the fact that if the Federal court system wouldn't choose the death penalty than Texas most surely would. As the talks continued it was decided that both would choose the death penalty but now they had to set a priority of who would try their case first and who would go second, ultimately Texas decided that if the Federal government would add the charges of the Texas killings to the Federal charges than the Federal government would have the group for the entire trial, but the Federal government still wanted Texas involved in the case besides just the fact that the criminals were going to be tried for the original twenty killings and Texas Rangers were going to be witnesses in their ultimate capture, that's when it was decided that members of Texas would also be part of the jury and the criminals would not only be held accountable for killing several Texas law enforcement officers but that Texas itself would try the other crimes committed not only in their state but also the other states they were in traveling to kill me, it's why it was mentioned that the state of Texas found the defendants guilty of their other crimes and the Federal government found them guilty of the killing and injury of 47 law enforcement officers most of them from Texas"

"Well for now we have equine classes to continue, so pay attention"

The cadets do indeed pay attention and Clair is passed within two days of classes since she showed expertise in everything needed

"So looks like the Texas Rangers taught you thoroughly, like they mentioned, they taught you to ride but I didn't realize that they taught you the other aspects about horses as well"

"Actually I kept up my skills as much as possible after learning and learned the other lessons the hard way at a stable I would go to"

"How hard was the hard way?"

"Um, if not for certain classified matters I would never be a police officer due to how many broken bones and concussions I would have had"

"And how many would that have been?"

"Well several bones would have been broken or re-broken at least thirty times and sixteen concussions over a period of two to three years"

Suddenly someone Clair was not expecting speaks up

"Actually Clair you would have either broken or re-broken several bones a total number of sixty-two times and at least eighteen concussions as a result of head injuries"

"Captain Faireborn, would it have really been that many?"

"Yes Clair it would have been, and for a few we didn't know to count those as part of the concussion count or not so we decided not to include it otherwise the concussion total would have been higher"

"Okay then, you definitely learned your lessons the hard way, but why didn't the Texas Rangers teach you the other lessons like they taught you to ride?"

"That's because they simply didn't have the time or ability to teach me the other lessons. You see I had to go to school by the time I finished tracking the criminals so the lessons beyond riding basics were never given to me, plus all their horses were already trained properly to be police horses so they would have had to take me to a training stable to teach me the other lessons I needed to learn and the nearest training stable to the area I was mostly in was several miles away in another town so they had to focus on the riding lessons before anything else and we simply didn't have time to slip in the other lessons while tracking the criminals"

"Okay you win on your points"

Suddenly though there was yet another blackout and a struggle, but this was no military training abduction, this abduction was for real and the abductors took Clair's locket from her and no one knew since most of them were blindfolded, but within an hour Clair was starting to panic about being bound and blindfolded, by two hours she was catatonic, and the only relief she ultimately had was a drugged sleep that was accomplished through Faireborn who was the only person not blindfolded or bound only because of the fact that she was being used to keep the other hostages under control and they all knew it, the problem was that Faireborn was unaware of the missing locket since as per usual Clair had kept the locket underneath all her clothes and the riding clothes combined with the uniform basically meant no one was aware of the locket unless she so chose to reveal it and Marissa simply thought that Clair had decided to keep the locket hidden not knowing their captors had known about the locket and taken it from Clair

"So about how long has it been since we were abducted?"

"About three and a half hours, and I'm worried about Clair, she's been bound and blindfolded for too long, if need be I will inform you cadets about why that isn't a good thing but let's just say she isn't the greatest at being captive for reasons known only to the EDC, her family, and several higher ups in both the military and police since they have the clearance and need to know about her issues"

"Captain Faireborn is right, her files are classified as need to know and since she was coming to this academy even temporarily to learn about horses I needed to know everything about her in case something happened that forced her or you guys to continue your other lessons at my academy for any reason"

"Why?"

"For everyone's safety, all instructors have to know how to handle her in any given situation for their own safety and also hers, she can be very dangerous and hurt you or herself accidentally, she wouldn't have been punished but she would have blamed herself if any harm came to you cadets or any of the instructors because of her"

The group finally made it to their location and wound up being there for several days, being freed by Winspector of all people who were  _supposed_  to be in France dealing with a police conference but had been brought back to America when Faireborn and Clair had been discovered missing and it was actually Junko who had discovered Clair's locket and realized that Clair might not be in such a good state

"Here Clair, here's your locket"

Junko simply puts Clair's locket in her hand and then the waiting began for Clair to come back to them after three days

"This might take a while since it's been so long since she's had her locket, but it will work, and we have the time so we're not moving her unless it suddenly gets dangerous"

Masaki on the other hand does what any parent would do, he simply holds her, strokes her head and speaks in calm soothing tones in Japanese

*Hey Clair, it's dad, you're safe now and free, if possible I'll take you home for a bit to meet your potential new brother Daichi, who needs someone in his life who understands him in a way I never will, even with you away from home for seven years you understand him better and can probably tell him stories that he'd appreciate*

Masaki continued this for what seemed like hours but finally Clair responded to Masaki verbally

"Tou...san? You're supposed to be in France, conference of some sort"

"We were called in to find you"

Clair put the locket back around her neck and continued to hold it needing the comfort of it's presence in her hand and around her neck. When the cadets finally got back to the academy they were informed they were being given a mandatory two week break with reassessment after the two weeks were over, with that in mind Clair went to France with Masaki to meet her potential new younger brother and quickly realized that she wanted him in the family and told Masaki to go ahead with the adoption and during that time she also let her new brother know that she did have something called PTSD and that the locket was important, because that was part of the problem when she had been abducted and why she had gone catatonic, she had flashbacked pretty badly while being bound and blindfolded and without her having access to the locket she couldn't ground herself like she normally would have been able to

*Don't worry, you'll soon be able to tell if I've had a bad night if you stay with me long enough I promise little brother*

*Clair, are the episodes more frequent in America?*

*That does seem to be the case, but I think it might slowly get better now that I'm adjusting to my job even though it might flair up again once I transfer to my potential permanent station*

*It also might be that part of the problem is not being around family as much as when you were in school*

*It's possible, don't worry I will seek help if I feel it's needed and I know when it's needed I've proved that well enough over the years haven't I?*

*Yes you have and I trust you to know when you need to seek help for your PTSD, and if nothing else your boss has your files which will be a big help ultimately*

*True, might send me to help immediately after something major with potential for an episode happens, we'll just have to figure it out as we go though*

*True enough, now then I think you need to get back to the academy, the two week period is almost up and you want to be there early for some reason*

*I have my reasons dad, let me know when the adoption is official?*

*But of course*

Clair books a flight out that same day amazingly enough and hugs both members of her family one last time before going back to America for reassessment about whether or not she was able to return to the academy, finishing up the horse lessons first due to the interruption. But before that she had another matter to take care of, a funeral for two FBI agents and a preliminary hearing for several Senators with an actual court date to be set for a later time when things were a little more settled

"Now then this is just a preliminary hearing, the actual hearing will happen at a later date"

The preliminary hearing was over with relatively quickly and three out of seven Senators were exonerated in that hearing through another Senator wanting clemency mentioning that the other Senators actually involved only made it look like those three Senators were involved so as to make sure that no one would look closer into their activities due to the fact that the three Senators not actually involved were some of the first to try and look into the other Senator's activities, once they were suspected of being involved they were forced to take a leave of absence and all paperwork burned beforehand

"Okay then, those three are free to go, but the rest of you have a date set for next month"

The judge dismisses everyone and then Clair finishes her horse lessons passing that part of the class, the next day back at her original academy it was time the cadets learned about the fact that they would sometimes deal with foreign nationals

"Now then we do have a translator for the spoken word, it has all known languages programmed into it which will help facilitate communication if no official translator is available, but for the written word you do indeed need a translator since there is no automatic translator for the written word, like this report given to us by Russian police"

Everyone is given a five page report and Clair knew it would take her a few minutes but she could easily translate it

"Now then we have already translated it, but I want you to just read the report in it's original language and think about how someone from another country might feel if they were given a report completely in English and they don't know the language, now then...cadet Kerenai, what are you doing?"

The reason the instructor asked that was because Clair had brought out her notebook and was already starting the translation of the report

"Translating this, I know you said you already have a translation but I want you to compare mine to theirs, this will take me a few minutes by the way"

"How long exactly?"

"No longer than fifteen minutes, this is a surprisingly detailed report, thus the five pages I presume"

Fifteen minutes later exactly Clair was finished with her translation and it was being compared to the other translation, and that translation was from someone who immigrated from Russia to live with family and it matched word for word except in one section, and that was only because what Clair didn't know was that the one section was a newer section in police reports for Russia and as such they had their own words and definitions for those words, but otherwise it was a perfect translation

"Well Kerenai, except for one small section this is a perfect translation, and the one section isn't your fault, that section is a recent addition to police reports and as such they had to create words and translations for that section"

"Just how old is that section?"

"About two years old and it wasn't formally adopted into police reports until words and translations were finalized internationally"

"That makes sense then, and that also means I need an updated Russian lesson, if only for that one little bit"

"But considering that it appears you already know Russian it will be easy for you to learn what you need to learn for next time"

"True enough, can I see the translated report to know where I went wrong?"

"Sure and we'll highlight that section for you too"

Clair reads the report and sees the highlighted section and realizes that she made mistakes that were easy to make since she could tell that the new section really was new, but that all in all it wasn't a  _bad_  translation in that section, just a slightly inaccurate translation

"Okay I know what I need to work on for the future, but for now it's time to continue the lesson I believe"

"Indeed it is"

And so Clair continued the academy when one day Clair received a nasty surprise, the cadets were all asked to help with a current case

"There's video to be seen first to understand the case we're currently working on, but be warned it could be too much for some of you"

The group watches video that was taken and the Chief sees that Clair is surprised

"What's wrong Clair?"

"Hang on I need to make a phone call, but don't expect to understand me"

Clair dials a number and then the group doesn't understand her due to the Japanese she speaks

*Dad it's Clair, I thought that the two terrorist groups were taken down three years ago...I see...I see...okay and we weren't informed because why?...okay...what do I tell the group?...okay...right...see you then...bye*

Clair hangs up the phone and gives out a deep sigh

"Okay, two things you need to know, first off is that the video is two groups now combined into one, another thing you should know is that I thought both groups had been taken down three years ago but apparently they just went deep into hiding and decided to combine forces after realizing they had a common enemy, the final thing is that this group is not to be taken lightly since they're terrorists and very dangerous terrorists at that"

"Oh?"

"Yep, and I have proof of just how dangerous they are, first off the French portion of the group almost killed me with a fire and I will show you video of that fire later, the Czech group made us think that an EDC operative, who was not an EDC operative at the time, was dead, that video file I have on me now with everything except one portion deliberately muted due to security reasons, finally I have physical proof as well of just how dangerous they are"

"Show us"

"Fine you asked for it"

Clair stands up and turns her back to the group, taking off the top shirt and then taking off the undershirt showing her back full of scars

"Oh man...how long did the group have you?"

"Two months, during my summer vacation, I also have more scars on the front of my body and on my arms, and not all the scars are recent, there are other scars from much longer ago but those scars I am not going to tell you how I got"

The group then sees the video file that was currently on her and the only part that wasn't muted was the Cybertronian part, everything else was indeed muted and no subtitles provided

"So we couldn't understand that one bit but why is security so tight for the rest of the video?"

"I'm afraid that again for security reasons I can't explain why we have such tight security on the video, and the only reason I even have the video file on me is for situations like this"

"Wait, I have an idea as to why the video is secured like it is, now I am not going to ask specifics but can you confirm that the reason why security is so tight on that video is for the safety of the EDC officer and their family?"

Clair debates for a moment and then simply nods in reply since it was basically the head of the police academy asking about it and since he  _had_  to know about certain security issues for EDC kids it was safe to confirm that the security on the video was tight for the safety of the EDC officer and their family because she knew it would go no further in regards to questions once that was confirmed


	26. Chapter 26

"By the way, is the FBI involved?"

"Yes, as is the EDC for some reason"

"Yeah they have their reasons"

"By the way what did you just speak?"

"Japanese, as a new instructor I know you haven't read my file yet so I will tell you I know several languages and that you should read my file soon because trust me it's needed to understand me"

"By the way, and this is for everyone we're not going to be deeply involved, at the most what we're going to be allowed to do is read whatever information the FBI gets and let them know where we think the group will strike next"

"That's the safest actually, especially for me"

"Clair, this could take a while you know"

"I know, but we have to be able to prove our ability to do our jobs, by the way you might want to talk to a few people before making any more plans regarding leaving the academy since this could get very dangerous, and also make plans to have other cadets continue where we left off if the group isn't taken down by the time we graduate"

"Understood, for now though everyone has a week off"

"Wait what?"

"You'll understand tonight after dinner, something none of the cadets find out until they get to this part of the training so don't worry it's an annual tradition"

The group eats dinner and that's when Clair finds out why the entire class had a week off

"Okay cadets, you all have a week off from the academy, this is an annual tradition where you guys get to go home and talk to your families about what you've been through since you've come here and also discuss the possibility of losing you in the line of duty, you ask them what they think about this and how they feel about losing you, thus the reason you have a week off, to decide if you want to continue on this path, or leave the academy without censure to choose another path"

"Now for some of you we've tracked down your families since you haven't given us a location for whatever reason, some of you had an argument maybe, and one of you technically doesn't have any close family still alive, but you actually do have distant relatives in that they're cousins you are unaware of on your father's side of the family, when we call up your name we'll give you tickets to where we knew where they were as of last week"

One by one they were called up and then Clair's name was called, her full legal name at that

"Clair Kerenai-Masaki"

Clair goes up to get her ticket and sees that they're in Japan which she wasn't surprised about, now if they had been some where's not in Japan or the United States, then she would have been surprised but Japan wasn't so surprising since they decided to go with her human adoptive family which really was easier to keep track of unlike her Cybertronian adoptive family, for that the EDC was involved nine times out of ten

"Wait, your name is Clair Kerenai-Masaki?"

"Why do you think the instructors use only one part of my last name at any given time with my permission? I also think you should know that technically it's actually Clair Elisa Kerenai-Masaki, but for the longest time I've mainly been known by my first and last name due to unique circumstances, and with my last name legally a hyphenated name through adoption using my first and last name is so much easier than my full name, just trust me on that"

"By the way Masaki, your family is  _hard_  to find because of the situation they are in"

"Did you make phone calls resorting to threats?"

"Not exactly, I made phone calls resorting to revealing why I wanted to find their current location, a Captain Faireborn ultimately gave me what I wanted"

"Fair enough, by the way you might want to keep everyone updated on our new mission just in case, and also, tell the FBI to try Russia, I read the report before dinner and they might strike Russia next, not entirely positive but the FBI and Russia should be prepared just in case"

"Understood Kerenai, Kerenai, are you...are you sure we will need to continue to help after your class graduates?"

"Not entirely positive, but you need to be prepared if that turns out to be the case"

"Fair enough Kerenai, fair enough, by the way you do know you're traveling the furthest of any of the cadets right?"

"And you also know full well why that is, not my fault it's their Japanese half of the year right now"

"What I want to know is why they split their time up between the two countries"

"It's a special agreement, plus they actually spent a full year in Japan because I needed that stability, you have my files so you understand what I am talking about when I say that if we had split their time in half between the two countries immediately I might not be alive, at the very least I would be in a facility permanently lost in my mind to the horrors of seven years with a terrorist group to protect my family, I needed the time to heal as much as I did before going back and forth between the two countries and ultimately I still have issues, I actually wake up five out of seven nights every two weeks or so from a nightmare or I wind up in a PTSD episode for some reason at least three times a month, even if you instructors don't catch it, as it is I am thinking that I might need to start seeing someone again just to get back to a status quo that I know I can reach, but I can't do that just yet because I don't know who I can trust besides the instructors who have the security clearance at need"

"Well for now you have a flight to catch"

Clair catches her flight and several hours later lands in Japan and takes a taxi to the Masaki household and opens the door

*Dad, Daichi...I'm home*

Clair looks around the house and doesn't see them so she decides to go to the police station and see if they were there, first seeing the dog that had replaced Aleck who had died only two years earlier

*Hey boy, good to see you too*

Clair walks to the police station and goes straight to Winspector headquarters and sees Daichi immediately

*Big sister, you're home!*

*Hey Daichi, are you officially part of the family now then?*

*Uh-huh dad gave me a piece of paper saying welcome to the family, he said he got a piece of paper that says so, said I wouldn't understand the big words yet though so he chose more simple words for me*

*Welcome to the family Daichi, I'm glad to be your big sister, is dad out?*

*Yes, said he had to int...int...talk to bad guys some where's*

*I'll go check the room where he talks to bad guys then, if he's not there I'll ask some other people about where is might be, but first, have you had lunch yet?*

*No, I was going to go get something but then I remembered dad's rule about not leaving this place without one of the other members of his team, said that will change when I get older but that for now I can't leave here without someone with me*

*Then come on, we'll get lunch and then while you wait here for dad I'll go find him*

Clair takes her brother out to eat and then gets back to Winspector headquarters and finds Masaki back in his office


	27. Chapter 27

*Hey dad*

*Clair, what are you doing here?*

*Have a week off to talk with you guys about my decision, all the cadets have the same week off, it's apparently a tradition to see if this is something they and their family can accept and truly want*

*They have your file they know you understand the dangers and so do I doing the same job*

*True, I am mainly going to be treating this like a visit, but I do want to talk to Daichi seriously about this because I don't think he fully understands two members of his family being in danger, unlike his birth parents who took up civilian jobs with the EDC after his birth, having already served as active EDC officers, he was and still is too young to fully understand such a thing*

*You have a point, and we'll talk together as a family seriously later today, but for now welcome home, have you eaten?*

*Yes Daichi and I just had lunch, where were you?*

*I had to talk to some witnesses about a crime and also interrogate a few of the criminals, that did take a little longer than I expected I will admit, but Ryoma and Junko are also checking on some leads while I take care of some things here*

*Any emergencies that required Ryoma to suit up?*

*Fortunately no, but you never know*

*True, by the way have you fixed that issue?, I think it might be important for America should the Winspector program happen over in the States like you want should I finish the Academy*

*We're working on it Clair, there are still some issues, but we're getting there I promise*

*Okay, if there's still a time limit by the time I get the program up and running let me know the limit*

*Will do*

Suddenly though there's an attack on the police station and Clair goes right into the thick of it, bringing out a knife naturally in the reverse grip they had long since figured out and soon saw her brother too close for comfort

*Daichi, get out of here,  _now_ , get to a safe zone and stay there until either dad or I come to get you, no one else, not even the other members of Winspector*

Clair whips around and at the same time has the knife in the proper grip and changing the knife into a sword, something she had learned how to do many years ago. Finally though the fight was over and the bad guys arrested and everyone home safe and sound for the day

*Daichi, I have a question for you and I want you to think about it and answer me honestly, did I scare you today before you went to the safe zone?*

Daichi does indeed think about it and then hesitantly, as if he feared her reaction he nodded his head and spoke

*Yes, you scared me big sister*

*That's understandable, you've never seen me like this before so part of it might have been the shock, understand something, I will always be a bit vicious when it comes to protecting my family and home. You are still too young yet to fully understand my past, but understand this, I stayed away from my family and home for seven years to protect them, during that time I learned how to be fearsly protective, and that bit of viciousness, which I will also call vindictiveness comes out when I am protecting those who I care about dearly. Again you will get the full story when you're a little older but for now just understand that what you saw is the result of seven years away from my family, and also understand that I never meant to scare you and that I will always,  _always_  protect you and never hurt you intentionally, but that part is for later okay?*

Daichi nods and then goes off to play with the dog while Clair and Masaki switch to English and just talk about things like they always did

"Dad, will Daichi be learning both English and American Sign Language in time?"

"Yes, we're ultimately going to have to have the same arrangement as you did Clair, and you know why that has to be"

"True I do know why that has to be, but...but I was thinking that maybe with your current situation certain agreements could be temporarily modified, dad I don't think Daichi should leave Japan constantly at such a young age, wait until he's older, in middle school maybe before making such decisions"

"What has you so concerned Clair?"

"His heritage, I'm worried he's going to be confused about who he is, you know how hard it was for me to come into my own after seven years with the terrorists, that was partly because I hid who I truly was to protect my Cybertronian family, but the other part was because since we moved so much I never had time to really learn people skills and that I think is needed before he moves back and forth between two countries"

"Captain Faireborn was also talking to me about Daichi, she also said something similar to what you just told me, and I guess I have to honestly think about it before making a decision because I am also considering partial homeschooling in that he would learn at home but have EDC tutors help me teach him what I want him to learn and also learning at the base whenever I am on assignment or we're in America"

"Well you'll figure it out I'm positive"

Clair spends the rest of the week having a good visit with her family and making absolutely sure that Daichi fully understood that he was now at risk of losing both members of his family and was okay with it, once the week was up Clair went back to the academy knowing that she would continue until graduation and then pass her probation period

"Okay class, this is everyone who remains, a few have decided to leave after talking to their families and one, one is no longer capable of becoming a police officer due to an accident on the way back due to injuries sustained"

"What happened?"

"He suffered severe brain damage and is incapable of learning anything new, and has actually lost quite a bit of memory, he thinks he's fifteen, and while the doctors are doing what they can they don't have much hope for a recovery of any sort"

"Oh"

"Kerenai, come up here for a moment"

Clair goes up to the instructor who lowers his voice to the point where only Clair would be able to hear what was being said

"We passed on your warning and it was taken seriously, Russia did indeed find the group and sent in their top people, all members of the unit Russian and FBI are dead, Russia is officially out for blood now and is passing on intelligence and people to America on loan, next step might be an international task force which you would have to be involved in"

Clair just nods in acknowledgment and gets back into line like she was supposed to. Later that day the lessons continued and Clair would get a reminder of what she had been forced to do for seven years

"Okay class, today we're going to talk about undercover missions and at the end of the week we're going to give you a file of someone that you're going to have to pretend to be for a week in the town"

Suddenly a cadet scoffs and speaks up

"This is going to be easy"

Clair speaks up before the instructor does

"No it's not, this is only the first step before learning about deep cover missions, missions where you have to be someone else for months at a time if you decide to specialize as such, and trust me that isn't as easy as you think, you literally have to become someone else while maintaining your true self for up to seven to twenty months at a time if not more depending on where you are working and Federal agents sometimes go years undercover with little to no contact with their families"

"Kerenai is right, there's actually a known case that we're going to discuss involving someone not even legally old enough to do such an assignment at the time later this week"

Clair goes pale knowing that it was her case that they were talking about

"Oh?"

"Yes, this kid, and they were literally a kid, left their home for seven years to protect them, having to become someone else entirely just to save the lives of her family and ultimately the world because she wasn't just trying to stop a drug gang or some other small time crime, she was trying to stop international terrorists, as such any other group is a small time crime compared to them, and she was with them for seven years becoming a completely different person so that the terrorists never found out her true goals, it almost cost them their lives, now then due to the fact that they were underage at the time their name will be omitted from the reports that you read and we will be calling her Ashley for the duration of the discussion, hopefully by the end of the discussion you will be able to understand what we mean when we say that a week is nothing compared to what you might have to face and that doing undercover work is  _dangerous_ "

"How come Kerenai apparently already knows all of this then?"

"EDC kid, we're taught from a young age to respect those that do undercover work for any length of time, but actually there is another reason, instructor I am giving you permission to use the non redacted reports including the use of my name in class, everyone needs to sign paperwork though since all of this is still very highly classified outside of the EDC kids who learn the truth at age ten per my instructions, it used to be eighteen but I decided to lower that age for reasons known only to me about two years ago. Now then before you sign paperwork I can still give you some basics, I spent seven years with the terrorist group fearing for my life every single day, worried that I would make a mistake that would cost me my life, and it's taken me five years to get to the point where I am now including almost a solid year in intensive therapy and I  _still_ suffer from PTSD episodes to this day, some months are worse than others but I know most of my triggers and also know when to seek help pushing the demons of my mind back where they belong. Being undercover for long periods of time is not for everyone and that's nothing to be ashamed of, as it is there's an international agreement that prevents me from ever going undercover again and now that I've had time to honestly think about that I'm glad the world government has done that because if I do something like what I did before again I will be lost to the world, most likely lost in my own mind but I may very well actually be killed either by the group I go undercover with or by someone in law enforcement, and that's something you have to understand about undercover assignments, very few will know you're undercover and as such most will be trying to bring you in or kill you depending on the circumstances, and if you go undercover with international criminals several countries will be after you and depending on their laws will have a kill on site order for you with other countries possibly and most definitely within their own country and if that happens the truth won't be discovered until too late and you're being sent home in a box with full honors for dying in the line of duty"

"Masaki is right, that kind of life really isn't easy and you truly are at risk of death at any moment depending on what your undercover assignment is"

The group started learning about undercover work and did indeed read the full files on Clair's mission that was self assigned and that's when they truly realized just how dangerous the life of an undercover officer was, because the reports also including her journal that she kept that not only had evidence against the terrorists but also her feelings and her fears, they even learned of the constant drugging that was forced on her for almost two full years at the start since the terrorists knew she wasn't actually with them willingly. What they didn't know though through the files was just how dangerous Clair truly was. But a week after they did minor undercover training with all of them busted except naturally Clair and surprisingly one other person they would get that chance with a surprise lesson no one was expecting

"All right people this is what we're calling true hand to hand combat, now then you may be police officers and we've taught you how to take down normal criminals but there will be times when you will have to fight an opponent trying to kill you in support the EDC who we sometimes team up with, now I will introduce you to your combat instructor, he is a member of military special forces and as such will always be referred to as a code name to protect his identity"

The person comes in and everyone knew that the soldier wasn't to be messed with, but for Clair there was something else about him that seemed almost...familiar but currently couldn't place it

"Okay everyone, this is strike shadow your hand to hand combat instructor that will make sure you stay alive if you have to fight someone to the death"

"Okay, first person come at me"

One of the other cadets started to fight and quickly lost, but that quick fight was all Clair needed to realize why the person was so familiar

"Who's next and please be less obvious than the one I just beat"

Clair speaks up and there is a practical growl in her voice

"I'll fight you"

She goes up to the mat and then surprises everyone but the instructor in regards to the fact that she didn't immediately fight him, finally though she attacked and the cadets, and instructors soon realized that Clair could  _fight_ , that there was an issue between her and the instructor was also obvious due to her yelling at him, but this fight revealed just how truly dangerous she could be


	28. Chapter 28

 

 

 

"You no good, lying traitor! Your family mourned for you, the rest had to walk on eggshells around them for six months,  _six months_!, I almost went back in to avenge you and you know full well how that would have gone over with my family! I may have left for seven years to protect them but at least  _they knew I was alive_! You had better have a good reason for what you pulled or I am going to put you in the hospital and reveal everything to your family!"

"Coranalis Kerenai-Masaki"

That stops the fight mid strike and everyone there realized that something important was going on between the two, though they weren't sure what it was

"Are you  _absolutely sure_  about this strike shadow?"

"Positive, four out of the six months spent in that desolate situation would make anyone positive"

(Sighs) "okay fine you win, government at least knows the truth and I'm sure you are planning on the truth to be revealed when possible right?"

"As soon as it's taken care of POTUS will reveal everything"

"Fine I'll keep quiet since I know the situation now, but if you need back up you call me understood?"

"Perfectly"

"Oh and by the way, if you and POTUS break your word you're on my list"

"Which list exactly?"

"The one that says you're in trouble with me, friendly forces version, basically you are to warn the white house that if there is a delay the person who had to deal with itching powder for a week got it easy, delay it unnecessarily and you and POTUS both have a month of whatever I come up with, the longer it's delayed the more months are added to it, especially since you betrayed the oath that was made four years ago the oath that we agreed we had to make for a reason"

"I may have made that oath four years ago, but there is another deeper oath that you are not aware of Clair, you left your home for seven years and we made a vow to either force you to come to your senses or...to kill you if we had no other alternative, but at the same time we noticed that everyone was acting strange in regards to your betrayal and as such we figured that maybe,  _just maybe_ you might have had a reason to betray us, as such while we vowed to either kill you or bring you back to your senses we also made another vow that is reaffirmed every year no matter where we are or what we're doing, and that vow is to do everything we can to protect our friends and family like you were doing if you truly had a reason to leave us, the only thing that has changed in our vow is when we discovered that you did indeed have a reason we changed the wording of our vow slightly but we've been holding true to that vow for over ten years Clair, you're not going to get us to break that vow now no matter how much you tried"

"Okay let's see, seven years undercover, one year spent recovering, four years spent in school and a year thanks to that incident being spent in the police academy that means...you've been keeping the vow for almost thirteen years now"

"Exactly Clair, you know just how deep that kind of vow/oath can be for someone"

(Sighs) "Okay you've made your point, however I am still adding time if needed to teach you a lesson about not revealing pertinent information faster understood?"

"Perfectly"

"Good"

"So continue the spar?"

"Fine by me strike shadow, the guys have already gotten a version of hand to hand at the start but this, this is true hand to hand, as such full contact strike shadow"

"Any restrictions?"

"Yep, no lethal blows and nothing that disables either of us for longer than seventy-two hours and you know full well why I need that restriction"

"Yeah I know, especially since you have other automatic restrictions in place as well"

Fifteen minutes later the match was over (at least to the observers) and both of them were on the ground breathing hard and the cadets and instructors knew just how hard that was in regards to getting Clair to that point, the instructors more than the cadets

"So...tie...Kerenai-Masaki?...right?"

"Sorry...no...tie...this time...need definitive...winner...for reason...and you...know that"

"Just let...me catch...my breath"

Two minutes later the match was definitively over in strike shadow's favor due to a move he used against Clair and she didn't have time to counter it

"So why did you say a definitive winner was needed, and did you let him win Kerenai-Masaki?"

"No instructor Carson he won fair and square, the reason a definitive winner was needed this time was to show you that the fight isn't over until the fight is  _really_ over with the opponent either unconscious or dead in the opponents where you have to use these skills"

"Fine, before he leaves does anyone have any questions for strike shadow?"

There were a few cadets that did but before he left strike shadow said something that was confusing to everyone but Clair since it was a special code between EDC kids

"As you know Clair  _that_  rule has been passed down for a long time between us special people and  _that_  rule is being activated"

"I understand, is a code 493 also involved?"

"Not yet, but only you and those who know my full assignment will know the emergency code"

"Strike shadow..."

"That's all you'll hear in public, but anyways I need to give you the emergency code"

"Fine, I know where we can talk in private so that you can give me the emergency code"

They go to a small area away from everyone else

"Okay so what's the code?"

"The emergency code is 'I'll see you in Paris' when you hear that you know to come get me"

"Understood and by the way once this is over you're seeking therapy, period and you know full well why I am demanding that"

"Indeed I do and will gladly obey"

The cadets continue with hand to hand for the next month and the cadets also learned to be careful around Clair during that time because of an accident once. Clair had been fighting another cadet and the cadet actually managed to defeat her, unfortunately that cadet was a recent transfer and didn't know about her and as such bound her with rope, gagged her and then blindfolded her, and since the cadet didn't know her he didn't see the signs that other cadets had realized they had been seeing from the start about a bad night and Clair had definitely had a bad night the night before, waking up three times, twice with a weapon in her hand, as such she went into an immediate flashback and started fighting people who weren't actually there, kicking and screaming through the gag, and the instructor who decided to undo the bond immediately also payed the price by being bitten by Clair and also kicked in the knee

"Sting-ray Kerenai, Sting-ray"

It takes a few moments but soon all that's heard is Clair's harsh breathing from coming back from a flashback that involved fighting

"I hate it when that happens"

"We forgot to warn the transfer"

"Do it, for now...for now I think I need a break"

"Agreed, it happens again tonight you're seeing someone"

"Understood"

Strike shadow comes in for another lesson a few days later and teaches everyone some techniques that would be really useful against opponents like Quintessons or aliens similar

"By the way they mainly use Sharkticons to fight but they do occasionally fight themselves, which is why you're learning these techniques"

"True but punching those guys is hard and hurts no matter how many times you do so"

"Yeah, that happened to you how many times?"

"Don't ask, almost happened during those seven years too, but got lucky, would have been dead for sure if we ever encountered those creeps. By the way how long can you keep this up considering your current situation?"

"This is the last lesson, someone else might take over, they might not but not sure"

"Fine, and yes I remember what you told me last lesson"

"Okay just making sure"

Strike shadow does his lesson of the day and once more he and Clair sparred until there was a definite winner mainly for the transfer's sake but also as a reminder to the other cadets that they were serious when they said it wasn't over until it was over in the fights they were talking about

"By the way even though we haven't told you everything, when going up against an EDC enemy use everything you have to your advantage, because they will, as such if I have a bad night they will use that against me to try and force me into a flashback or PTSD episode, it's part of why I still see a therapist at need because I will  _always_  have PTSD, I just simply have more good days than bad days but since I do still have bad days I know to seek help at need"

"Kerenai is right, I've been up against them myself and they will use everything to their advantage, I had a broken arm when I went up against five Lorini by the end of the fight I had to have the arm recast-ed and initially they weren't sure if I would need surgery or not and I was told that it was a distinct possibility until they saw how the arm started healing, and as for her PTSD she will always have bad days, but good days outnumber bad and she knows how to handle her condition, I get that you're trying to avoid triggers and I'm sure she appreciates that but at the same time if this type of sparring is needed don't hold back and if she triggers the instructors have a means of bringing her back to the present"

"For now though today's lessons are over with and everyone can relax even though it's still the middle of the day"

"Sir?"

"We just received some intelligence from the FBI about that group that has the Russians now after them, they need to talk to us professors and even you Masaki, something about a code they have no clue how to translate and don't want to bring any of your family into it for some reason"

"Okay, by the way you might want to use the cadets for other research like they're supposed to be doing on this group, because if they move and we have no possible locations..."

"Except the FBI said they needed a break, they've been sending what research they can to the FBI since this whole mess began, the FBI said if they don't get a break soon they're going to force a break on you cadets, and it won't be a very nice way of doing so either"

"Okay they win"

"Thought they would"

Clair goes and easily recognizes the code due to the fact that it's a unique code that not many are exposed to

"Well I can easily decode this but I can't tell you how, mainly because you literally can't recognize and decode this with just one example, you have to be constantly exposed to this code in multiple formats and they're changed up constantly for just this reason by the way"

Clair decodes the message to find out that the terrorist group was meeting and planning to disrupt the United Nations conference

"Okay we've got it from here then"

"Okay, glad this ends before other cadets have to deal with this"

"Agreed"

"By the way Kerenai, we know that undercover missions are forbidden by international agreement for you but at the same time we're having some trouble with a case that was assigned to the academy as such we..."

"You know full well international law can't be broken"

"But Masaki..."

"No, I am not disobeying an international law, I am Clair Kerenai-Masaki and I will never break the law, you're going to have to figure out something else"

"At least let us finish, as I was saying as such we need some insight about what our undercover people might be doing wrong since you definitely have experience in undercover work"

"Let me look at the assignment and I'll try and help you figure it out"

By the end of the day Clair had gone to the gym and everyone could tell just how mad she was because she  _destroyed_  two punching bags, a training robot and broke her hands in two places each due to concrete walls


	29. Chapter 29

"Okay Kerenai-Masaki, what just happened?"

"I may have lost my temper a bit"

"A bit? I don't think what happened is a bit"

"Okay so I may have extremely lost my temper but I have a reason which unfortunately the doctors and nurses aren't cleared for"

The doctors leave and the officers look at Clair expectantly

"The reason I lost my temper is because the one's in charge of the operation are idiots, they're going to lose their undercover agent if they haven't already if they're not pulled out and soon since they did everything wrong from the start in this operation"

"We'll see what we can find out and hope that the agent is still safe, how dangerous is the group they are trying to take down?"

"Very, they have killed in the past and might actually have terrorist connections, though I'm not positive about that part, all I know is that if the undercover agent isn't dead already they will be soon enough if they aren't pulled out"

"No wonder you lost your temper, but Clair, I think you might need to figure out another means of relieving that temper of yours, at least temporarily"

"Oh? I don't remember what exactly happened to break my hands but I know I was angry"

"You destroyed two punching bags, a training robot and hit concrete walls several times until your hands broke"

"Okay, I need to control my temper a bit then"

"No, you had every right to be that angry, you just need another channel if you ever get  _that_  angry again and there's no gym for you"

"Understood, and of course I'll pay to replace and repair what I damaged, just how bad are the walls?"

"The walls have no damage that we can tell so far, but of course considering who you are we'll double check that"

"Good"

It would ultimately turn out that the walls  _were_  damaged and Clair paid for everything out of her own pocket which made a decent dent into her account but she was still relatively okay, mainly due to the fact that she had money from her family. Back when everything had started for her the Cybertronians had sealed their accounts so that Clair wouldn't have access to anything until they could determine what happened, after they figured that she had her reasons the accounts were still sealed but they used an emergency clause in her parents wills that stated that money that belonged to her through them was to be put into a special account to be able to care for her if anything happened to her, basically a trust fund of sorts, and that money was left untouched for many many years and as such was just sitting there getting interest, when her uncle died more recently he put all his money into her account as well, plus though she never knew it until right before she joined the police academy she had been given the rewards for several criminals over the years of helping capture them in her spare time which meant while she wasn't a millionaire or something she did have the money to take care of any unexpected expenses and also take care of herself at the same time

"So how is it this isn't killing you?"

"There are reasons which I am never going to get into, those who need to know my financial life know about it and that's good enough for me"

"By the way, there's a phone call for you, but um we can only understand you name"

"Okay, give me the phone"

Clair is given the phone and decides to start in English even though it was an obvious foreign language

"This is Kerenai-Masaki" (switches to Korean) *what's wrong?...I see...okay...okay...and the EDC can't help?...oh okay...sure I can do that...no I haven't passed the academy yet...can't hurt to ask...okay will do...okay...bye*

Clair hangs up the phone and brings out her cell phone and calls her Cybertronian family and speaks to them in rapid Cybertronian meaning no one understood her and ended the phone call real quickly

"Sorry about that, there's a small issue in South Korea that needs to be taken care of"

"Why do they need you?"

"That unfortunately is classified for reasons that are way too complicated, otherwise you would be allowed to know"

"Okay, by the way there's a little rumor we want to check out"

"Oh?"

"Yep, come on we need the other cadets for this one"

They gather all the cadets and head to a location blindfolded, now then the instructors were a little hesitant about it at first until Clair explained that as long as she wasn't bound she should be fine and she was since she had her locket and could grab it and know she was safe at all times. Finally they reached their location and were unblindfolded

"Okay people, we're at a special place that not many in the academy are aware of, this place is used for contests of various sports, and this entire month is dedicated to archery. We've heard that a cadet can hit targets using any weapon and as such we need to have proof of that, we also want you to be familiar with a weapon you might not normally have just in case it's your only option for whatever reason"

Clair would prove the rumor correct, but the instructors would get a surprise in that another cadet was almost just as good as Clair, they missed the target a few times but they also hit the target more than they missed

"Okay there's two cadets who can just about use any weapon"

"Nope, I can only just use the bow and arrow, and the only reason I'm as good as I am is because of the fact that my high school had an archery club for about two years before it got shut down"

"By the way instructors all you had to do was ask and I would have confirmed the rumor, you know my past and as such you should have known that it wasn't just a rumor, I learned how to use just about every weapon under the sun because I had to, as such I can hit a target with just about any weapon I am given"

"We're sorry Masaki, we should have just asked, but even you have to admit that though you've given your fellow cadets clearance to read the reports about your activities undercover you're still very hesitant about letting your true self be known"

"Because I basically lost everything to those guys, my friends, my family, my dignity...my eyesight, I lost my eyesight to them plus some of my limbs"

"But you don't look like you have prosthesis and you also look like you can see perfectly fine and there's nothing in your files about those issues either"

"That's because the loss of my limbs was only temporary from an injury to my back, as for my eyesight" (sighs) "as for my eyesight that too was regained but I'm losing my eyesight again because of what I was forced to do for seven years, I am going blind and will need the special contacts just to be able to continue my duties soon, if not I will have to give up being in the police force and try and find something else I can do blind, either that or hope for a cure for what's happening"

"Why haven't you said anything?"

"I want to know how she's still able to hit all her targets"

"The targets are because they're standing still and I know what they're supposed to be like, if they were moving that would be when a problem would be noticed, as for not saying anything, that's partially because it's been so gradual until today that I was able to easily compensate for any problems"

"Would you have even spoken up about this if today hadn't happened?"

"Yes, when I realized I had a sudden worsening of eyesight I knew I would have to speak up within the next few days even if I wasn't totally blind, I need to see my family and go from there"

"By the way how did you lose your dignity, your files stated..."

"It's true I was never...assaulted, though it was a near thing at times but you can lose your dignity in other ways besides what you're thinking of, and yes I regained my family but for a long time I lost them to what I had to do"

"Very well, for now we're all going to go back to the academy and then Clair is going to get her eyes checked out so that we know what the next step is"

Clair got her eyes checked out by her family personally and it was found out that a simple surgery would correct the issue because it turned out that what the terrorist group had done when Clair had first lost her eyesight was the correct decision that gave her the best chance of recovery after having used a poison on her deliberately as a test one day for her loyalty, it had been a new poison so they didn't know what could happen but they made sure it was a non lethal poison, when they had discovered that it lead to blindness and a few other side effects her group effectively banned the use of that poison permanently, except for one other occasion and that was because they had no other choice but to use the poison on a guard one time as a means to keep the guard alive after the actions of a different terrorist group, and they left him where he could be easily found with the instructions to help the guard hopefully regain his eyesight, that guard had already gone through the surgery right before Clair came home and so after a few days in recovery she was back at the academy with her fellow cadets


	30. Chapter 30

"Okay class here's something we need to discuss, most academy's don't have you learning how to become a police officer for at least a year but we do, does anyone have any guesses as to why that is?"

Several classmates took guesses and many of them were good ones but not quite accurate and finally the instructor decides to stop

"The reason, is not only are we regular police officers but this academy is one of the few that are fully authorized to train EDC officers, all academy's now give basic defense courses to handle EDC enemies but they are given those courses much sooner and only spend a day or two learning, we need to make sure you can handle yourselves for a year before we even come close to suggesting becoming an EDC officer which takes at least another year of learning at this academy before going to the EDC for your final training"

"No wonder you're so tough and also make sure after a point this is what we truly want"

"Exactly, that too is a test to see if you're truly dedicated to a low paying job that you could get killed on at any point, but it's not just a test for you but also your family to see if they truly can accept your decision that you made months earlier, if either of the groups is hesitant we make sure that the cadet can go no further in training for their own safety"

"That actually makes sense then"

"Yes, yes it does when you honestly think about it, now then there's more to cover today but we just wanted you to know why we do what we do for you cadets"

"By the way, I have dibs on some visitors later this month"

"Oh?"

"Why do you have dibs Kerenai?"

"Does language barrier help matters?"

"You know the language of visitors?"

"Yep, I have to know about any visitors to the academy after that near incident at the airport when I came home"

"Oh forgot about that, you were the one to calm the situation weren't you?"

"Yep and yes I know there will also be official translators but I still get dibs"

"Fine"

"Um who's coming later this month?"

"Officers who are being shown how we do things in America, they're from Vietnam I believe, either that or South Korea"

"By the way Masaki, a letter came for you and it's in Japanese except for your name"

"Right"

Clair reads the letter and smiles for a bit, and then at the end frowns

"It's from my brother, for the most part things are going okay but...I may have to go back to Japan on emergency leave depending on a phone call you guys will hopefully get within a few days as of when the letter was sent, since he currently only knows Japanese really and doesn't know when a good time to contact me by phone is he is using letters to keep in touch with me and sending them to my current address which of course is the academy"

"Okay we'll be expecting a phone call from Japan then, will the speaker know English?"

"Yes, it will be a Winspector team member making the phone call, but unfortunately I can't elaborate any further on the situation at this time"

"Very well"

Suddenly a phone rang and the officer answered

"Hello?...just a moment...Kerenai, it's for you"

"This is Kerenai speaking...what...okay...okay...give me some time and I'll make arrangements...make sure ototo is safe until I get there...okay...what was it?...understood...yes I'll do that...bye"

Clair hangs up and hands the phone back to the officer

"Sir I need to take emergency leave, I also need to apply for emergency housing off academy grounds"

"But Masaki..."

"Sir I have to take in my little brother, I'm the only one who can care for him now, I'm sure that will be in my dad's will until he is of legal age in the United States due to unique circumstances, I can't stay on campus I need emergency housing for us"

"We'll take care of everything on our end then Kerenai, for now make any other arrangements you may need to make before going over to Japan and naturally emergency leave is granted until everything in Japan is taken care of"

"Thank you"

It takes a few days but finally Clair is in Japan and read her adoptive human father's final will and testament and as thought Clair was to take care of Daichi until he was of legal age in America to take care of himself due to his adoption into the clan and Clair herself had already taken care of things in case she was incapacitated temporarily or permanently herself

_A few days earlier_

"Primes, Galvatron I have a few ground rules to lay out, Daichi isn't getting training until he's at least nine years old and isn't being introduced to the family until he's fifteen at least minus Captain Faireborn, we can reevaluate at a later date but I can't have him fearing for you guys so soon after losing two different families"

"We understand and will obey your rules, however we insist on helping Captain Faireborn behind the scenes at need"

"That I will allow until he's old enough to meet you guys, then you can help more directly"

Clair leaves and the Cybertronian leaders talk amongst themselves

"I hope we aren't making a mistake keeping her in the dark, same with Daichi, when they find out..."

"It's for their own safety, and Daichi will be the big question I think Clair will understand why we faked his death eventually"

"True enough"

What the Cybertronians didn't know was that Clair already knew her human dad was still alive through a code given to her via Ryoma, it was something that they had worked way back when Clair had first come to live with Masaki and they had agreed to become EDC officers, if his death was to be faked for any reason Clair would be given a code somehow letting her know he was still alive, they also didn't realize that Clair had actually pretended to leave the room and then reentered and overheard the entire conversation about how it really had been close for a little bit but they had succeeded in saving Masaki from a group that was specifically after the EDC and was now in a hidden location to allow him to heal properly and then go after the group in an undercover capacity, which only Winspector was allowed to do as they were EDC officers as well as Japanese police officers, but since Japan law forbade undercover work they were doing it completely as EDC officers

_Present_

*Clair, what happens now?*

*Now both of us go back to the United States, I haven't finished my police training and you are now under my care since dad's will made me your legal guardian, and I've already taken care of my end if something happens to temporarily incapacitate me so that you will always be taken care of by the family of EDC officers, we should also have a place to hopefully stay when we get back too since the ones in charge of the academy said they would take care of my emergency housing request, but if not I'm sure that they'll have something arranged until we have a place of our own. Don't worry Daichi you're safe with your big sister I promise I will take care of you until you are of legal age in America or I am no longer able to if that happens before you are of legal age*

*Is it okay that I'm scared?*

*Yes this is new to you and so much has happened in such a short time I don't mind you being scared about changing homes, but don't worry you won't every forget your heritage I promise, I can't explain how that will work now but it will work, for now we have a long flight ahead of us tomorrow so we need our sleep* (thinks) " _I wish I could tell you the truth Daichi but this is for your own safety, and I get the feeling that this will only be the first of many tests over the years, but only time will tell what's in store for you as one of my family_ "

The next day the two head back to the United States and Clair would find out that they did indeed already have a small apartment waiting for them, because what the academy instructor didn't know was that once they officially became able to train EDC officers they were given the ability to use EDC housing for cadets who might not be able to live on academy grounds for whatever reason and that included EDC families, and due to Clair and Daichi's situation they were included in that category at all times and the EDC was ready for them at a moment's notice at all times because of that

*Daichi, due to the current situation there are going to be a few ground rules I need to lay out for your safety and mine*

*Like what dad did?*

*Yes, first rule is that you are to either stay here  _or_  be with Captain Faireborn or an EDC officer of her choice at all times, the second is that if I am not able to be home at night then you are to remain with the person I leave in charge of you during the day at their place, when school starts the rules will change slightly but those are the rules for the moment, my final rule is that if something happens to your caretaker you are to come to the police academy and ask for me, they understand I have to take care of you and as such they will give me time away from classes in order to make alternate arrangements for your care, we are close enough to the academy that you can run or walk there, you are not to take a taxi until I give you permission*

*Will we continue my English lessons?*

*Yes you need to be fluent in both Japanese and English and I will continue where dad left off, but only after you've settled in, I know that this is stressful enough without having to worry about learning a second language, even if you were already starting to learn it beforehand*

*Is it okay if I slip into Japanese even after I learn English?*

*Yes it is, when I was in Japan, though I know Japanese even I would slip into English or another language that is also considered my first language whenever I was under extreme stress*

*Clair...what happened to the house?*

*Someone is taking care of it while we're in America, it's basically the same arrangement that dad already made since we were going back and forth between the two countries for four years before you came along, the same school arrangement would have also been made once you started school as well, and will happen once I get the American branch of Winspector up and running, that's the other thing, I will also let you out with the other Winspector team members*

*That makes sense and is already a rule I had with dad*

*Good, for now though I have a few days before I have to go back to the academy which means I can get things set up for when I'm not physically here, but first...we need to go shopping for groceries*

*Okay, Clair dad never introduced me to other foods besides Japanese food, even when we were at that conference I always had Japanese food*

*Which is why I'm going to be cooking primarily Japanese food at first and slowly introducing you to other foods later, part of that is in case you're allergic to something, this ways we can find out slowly instead of you suddenly having a reaction and us not knowing what it was you reacted to*

*Would dad have also done this?*

*Yes he would have, but now since you're my responsibility I have to keep you safe in regards to food and also expose you to different foods as well, now come on I know where we can get food around here that will stock us for at least a week*

The two go grocery shopping and Daichi learns that yes, Clair indeed know how to shop Japanese style food even in America, though one thing confused him greatly

*Clair, why did you buy the cheese you did?*

*That's because of something I need to make for the academy, and it requires that cheese due to an admitted problem of a fellow cadet, it's also why I bought the pasta I did*

*Oh, will I be learning of the different foods as you expose them to me?*

*Yes you will, but not right now, right now I need you on your normal diet*

*How long until you start exposing me to new foods?*

*Not for a week at least, your body really won't take much more shock trust me on that*

*Sorry, but this time I need to know why you say that*

(Sighs) *I was hoping you wouldn't say that, look there's still much you don't know about my past but understand this, when I left my first family for seven years I was with a terrorist group under threat, I had to eat strange foods immediately after going through a stressful separation, I wound up getting sick every day for a solid month until I was allowed a normal diet for me for a short period of time, then the group  _slowly_  introduced me to strange foods, and it turns out I was actually sensitive to a few of them though not down right allergic, other times it had been the fact that I was under too much stress to properly handle strange food,  _that_  is why I am giving you a week to adjust before starting you on new foods and why we are going to be doing this very slowly and I and others will be constantly watching you for a bad reaction to any food*

*If I was still home when would dad have started this process?*

*I don't know for sure, but all things considered it would have been around this time, I might only be starting just a little sooner than dad would have*

*Maybe we should give me a little more time than just a week Clair, I...I want to talk to some people before I try new foods*

*I think I know who you want to talk to, your potential new doctor*

*No, I mean, eventually yes, but first I want to talk to your police academy medic about all of this, plus I also want to talk to someone who knows what might happen when going from one diet to another completely new diet, even if it's done slowly in stages*

*Okay, then the changes will happen a little later than what I thought, but I want you to be comfortable about everything that's happening now*

A week later Clair was in class while Daichi was with a babysitter (read EDC officer ordered by Captain Faireborn to take care of him while Clair was at the academy and the neighbors weren't available) when the academy was attacked and what the cadets had learned so far would be put to the test, though they would ultimately fail in preventing abductions and the temporary capture of the academy they still did quite well

"Okay we need to know who's here and who's not"

"I know for a fact that Kerenai is gone, I saw her being abducted after a good fight, looks like she had been drugged as well"

"Okay now we need to check on other cadets then"

"What about our captors?"

"We'll take care of them soon enough, we still have this section of the academy so we'll make this our base of operations, we'll call this operation Snake-eater"

"Wait what?"

"You'll find that a lot of missions like this will be called an operation with a code name of some sort, and if you don't know the mission behind the code name you'll never understand what's going on when you hear it"

"That actually makes sense, guess it helps keep things secure in a huge police station"

"Indeed it does, also helps with the military as well"

And so for the next three days the academy did their best to free themselves without help, meanwhile Clair's abductors had abandoned her pretty early on leaving her to die from the heat but because of that Clair didn't know how long it had been since she had last seen her fellow cadets, all she knew was that she was in trouble and needed to get back to the academy or another location to get help. As such she managed to escape her current location and discovered a horse already wearing it's tack and as such she got on the horse and led it away from her location, she ultimate made it into town and in front of a building she was hoping to see, a local police station, she got off the horse and collapsed, but she managed to draw her gun and aimed at a specific bell and shot her gun three times hitting the bell each time, once that was done she finally lost all her strength and passed out. Inside the people heard the gunshots and the bell and ran out to see what the problem was and discovered her lying there


	31. Chapter 31

"Someone get the chief!"

One of the officers got to her and immediately noticed her distressed breathing, she was breathing fast, hard, and obviously labored since her breathing sounded very harsh, as soon as he turned her over he felt her forehead and immediately took his hand off of it

"She's burning up, might actually be having heatstroke, someone help me get her inside immediately, thank goodness John is here since he's a paramedic and keeps equipment at the station"

They get Clair inside and John does what he can and mentions she was actually in hyperthermia and immediately got her on oxygen hoping the ambulance would arrive quickly. Eventually they got her to the hospital who continued the aggressive cooling that the officer had done which included more cold packs

"Alright people, we can stop cooling her now, and it seems like she's asleep but we'll keep her under observation for a while to make sure we didn't go from one extreme to the other"

"At least her breathing is back to normal"

"That is always a good thing indeed"

"Now all we need to do is talk to the officers outside and ask about a name so that she isn't known as Jane Doe until she wakes up"

The doctor goes to the group waiting and speaks up

"She's out of danger, but there wasn't any ID on her as far as we know, can one of you identify her?"

"We'll try"

"Okay, we have her in a hospital gown to make finding any identifying marks or tattoos easier to find"

A female officer discreetly does the check and finds the clan mark

"Hey Lt, I found the tattoo we were told to always be on the lookout for, it's Kerenai-Masaki sir"

"Okay, her name is Clair Kerenai-Masaki, we'll spell it for you since it's a bit of an unusual last name"

The officer spells her last name and then reports back to their chief who mentions that the academy she was from was still occupied but that reinforcements were on their way and that they would tell the academy that Clair had been found alive and was being taken care of. Three days later the academy was free but the instructors decided to take the cadets sailing but the problem was most of them had never been around boats, but Clair did, including older boats like the Coast Guard cutter  _Eagle_  and the United States Navy vessel the  _USS Constitution_  and the Coast Guard Cutter  _Eagle_  was the one they were taking out to sea with the special permission of the US Coast Guard

"Okay, the officers and cadets of the US Coast Guard are the main ones in charge but you will also be getting experience with vessels, now then I know you most likely won't encounter a vessel like this should you go onto river patrol or the like but it's still good to know how to handle a vessel like this for reasons that I'm not getting into"

The police cadets were being shown how to do things when Clair realized a  _big_  problem, both on the horizon and on the vessel itself with her fellow cadets and while she would normally trust the Coast Guard to be aware of the oncoming storm she also knew that this was way too fast to be a normal storm and as such she sounded the alarm as for the problem with her fellow cadets, the problem was they were trying to do things they weren't ready for and were completely out of sync with each other which would have made things worse if not for the Coast Guard officers and cadets, but that problem she couldn't take care of at the moment because of the oncoming storm

"Storm on the horizon! Hard to port,  _now_!"

While she was doing that she quickly took the wheel and turned it to port, which none on the bridge were expecting and as such almost lost their footing and the Captain came out immediately

"Okay who moved us without authorization?"

"Kerenai-Masaki Captain, storm heading our way, need to get to safe port immediately, someone take over the wheel I need to be else where's"

The Captain looks and does indeed see the storm and as such makes a decision that was needed

"Engage the engines, we need to get moving now"

"Captain, before we deploy the engines we need to batten down the hatches and furl the sails, otherwise things might go wrong, I know this is a Coast Guard vessel and very unlikely to sink but we don't want to damage the sails or risk something happening with extra wind due to the engines"

"Right, okay let's get going"

Clair immediately climbs up the sails with safety gear and starts helping the crew furl the sails, which let's the crew know that Clair actually knew what she was doing on a boat, unlike her fellow cadets suddenly one of the Coast Guard cadets made an order that was  _wrong_  and Clair knew it too, and while she technically didn't have any authority on the vessel as a police cadet she did have authority due to her name, because even though she had forgone military service to pursue police service she was still Clair Elisa Kerenai-Masaki otherwise known as Clair of Cybertron and her family gave her the ability to order soldiers in the armed forces

"John, undo your harness and get a little higher, the sail is caught"

"Belay that order! It's too dangerous, you're misjudging the winds, I'll go up there,  _with_  the harness and take care of the problem"

"And just who are you to order us around?"

"Clair Kerenai-Masaki"

"You win"

"Thought so"

Clair secures what was left that needed securing and then everyone went below deck to wait out the storm when suddenly they received bad news

"Again we have no idea why this has happened but every ship is being warned to be on the lookout for these massive waves while those near water are being told to evacuate to higher ground, in related news Hawaii has declared a state of emergency requesting emergency help to evacuate their people and California is also taking precautions ordering almost half of California to inland states, all other states with coastal areas have issued emergency evacuation orders already and all neighboring states are preparing for emergency refugees while our neighbor Canada has already prepared emergency relief and Mexico too is ready to provide emergency help once things calm down"

"Even we won't survive what they're talking about"

"Captain, may I use your computer?"

"What for?"

"I need to check something and unfortunately I don't have my personal computer with me, otherwise it would be much easier for me to do what I need to do, your computer is the only one secure enough for what I need, and I have an all access password as you well know"

"Agreed, you can use the computer, follow me"

"Good"

Clair accesses special satellites and quickly realizes just what was happening and how much danger all of the United States and part of Mexico was in serious danger and as such she knew what to do

"Captain, I'm going to do something that is going to exhaust me even though it normally wouldn't, however at the same time I can't pass out until I get the all clear, as such I need you to do everything in your power to keep me awake, at the same time the moment you get the all clear I need to know"

"I think I know what you're talking about and I can handle the details, we'll go to my cabin since you're going to be completely out of it once you get the all clear from me and I prefer you to be in private quarters"

Clair puts up her Arranyan shields and protects those that needed protecting from not only the huge storms but also the enemy that caused the storms in the first place which her family took care of easily enough once they found out about them. Finally Clair received the all clear signal from the captain and wound up unconscious for three days, but before she passed out she wrote out a song for her fellow cadets, something that had a rhythm to it that allowed them to see the patterns that were needed for the vessel, and the Coast Guard once seeing the song realized that the police cadets weren't used to sailing vessels and needed songs as in the old days to keep rhythm so that they worked cohesively as a unit

"Sorry we didn't see what the problem was for you police cadets"

"Not entirely your fault, how's Kerenai?"

"She'll be fine, just really really tired is all at the moment"

"Good to hear"

"We'll be back in port in about three hours"

"And as soon as Clair's awake she'll want to go home, but..."

"I'm pretty sure all of us will have orders to take a break when we reach the dock, but for now just assume we'll be ordered back to the academy and keep your mind on your studies"

"By the way, you instructors never did tell us why Clair suddenly has an off campus apartment that she goes to"

"That is because it's none of your business unless Masaki tells you herself, is that clear?"

"Perfectly, we know better than to press with you guys, and besides we still know more about her than most police cadets due to that one lesson"

"Exactly"

Three hours later Clair was awake and it turned out that the cadets were given the whole weekend and with that being the case Clair immediately went to the apartment she shared with her brother

*Daichi I'm home...Daichi?...Daichi?...*

Clair immediately starts looking for her brother, and as soon as she reaches the kitchen she sees a note that was made earlier that day due to the date on it stating that his current babysitter was taking Daichi to the park and also out to the movies so as to help Daichi learn a little more English, or at the very least get used to hearing it more and as such Clair relaxed and had a nice lunch before her brother got home, and once home she caught up Daichi on how she was doing and Daichi caught her up on how he was doing, including how his diet was slowly expanding due to the fact that she had been out on the Coast Guard vessel for a solid month

"By the way, I know you told your family he isn't getting any training until he's at least nine years old, but unfortunately there's an incident we didn't tell you about due to the fact that quite frankly there was nothing to be done, he was almost abducted a few days after you left. He needs to start self defense lessons now because the one's who almost abducted him were EDC enemies, and they specifically mentioned they were after him because of him being in the Masaki family which has you as well, somehow they know about the fact that the Masaki family and the Cybertronians are a clan officially"

(Sighs) "I was hoping to avoid that for a few more years since he's still so young, he's still not meeting the family yet, but I will concede to the fact that he needs self defense training now instead of later, does Winspector know?"

"Yes, a Ryoma Kagawa was actually in the area, something about a special inspection"

"It's Kagawa Ryoma, the thing is it's good that they know about this, because that means they can help whenever they're here in America, which should be soon, the special inspection was probably a regular inspection of a police station that they are thinking of using as base of operations when not using the EDC base"

"Oh that makes sense actually"

"For now though I am going to get some more sleep and then talk to Daichi about self defense lessons, but he's not learning my style period the end of it"

"What style?"

"Okay I do technically have a style, it's called Mixed Martial Arts mode 2, at least that's what it was called when I competed about a year ago in a special Mixed Martial Arts competition benefiting a few charities"

"And what does that mean exactly?"

"I am a master of five different martial arts and can smoothly mix and match them, as such my style is actually a mixture of martial arts styles basically combined into one, it makes me very, very unpredictable"

"I'll bet it does"

"However, there is a downside, while it makes me extremely dangerous in hand to hand, it's also dangerous to use my style if you are learning it at a younger age, because of how unpredictable I can be in my attacks if you haven't trained from a young age, you can hurt yourself because being unpredictable also means having good hand eye coordination and for me and my style that takes time and training, and while Daichi may technically have the time to learn he can get hurt pretty badly in the process, thus why I am limiting him to one style and one style only period the end of it and he won't let me back down from it"

"That makes sense then"

"But not for a few more weeks, mainly because I want him to look at the various styles available to him and then he can make his decision from there, but only after I get readjusted to being on land"

"Okay, oh by the way I just heard from someone yesterday and they said to tell you that it's going public next week at a press conference, and they said to tell you that the person calling has a code name called strike shadow"

"I was wondering if I would hear either that or a code phrase he warned me about, good to hear he's okay and out of danger, by the way expect a pleasant surprise but that's all I'm telling you about that press conference...wait why wait until next week?"

"Something about major debriefing that will take a while"

"Oh, okay that actually makes sense"

"Hey Kerenai, you have a letter"

"Oh?"

Clair opens it and is visibly surprised


	32. Chapter 32

"Wow, wasn't expecting this, I've been waiting to hear from these guys for a long time now about a question we had, looks like they themselves weren't too sure of things until recently but finally have an answer and everything actually makes sense"

"What answer?"

"Um, academy president only I'm afraid, it's classified that high"

Clair goes to the academy president immediately

"So what was the question and answer?"

"Way back when I was still in Japan I discovered that I had reached the highest level of understanding of my powers, before the whole in Japan for one half of the year in America the other half it was told to me that my eyes turned hazel whenever I activated my powers, we asked the aliens, who accidentally through my birth mother gave me those abilities, why that was so, and now five years later thereabouts we have an answer, it turns out that it's a combination of my being human and also the drugs that were used on me for almost two years to keep me under control with that terrorist group, the aliens finally got their hands on that stuff after the EDC managed to confiscate a batch through sheer dumb luck since the original batch was destroyed before the group I was with was taken down. It turns out that my reaching the highest level of understanding would have originally meant that there wouldn't be a really visible affect of my powers except that my pupils would have gone wider, however combined with the drug it means that my eyes will always go hazel whenever I use my abilities"

"So basically the fact that your eyes go hazel means you've reached the pinnacle of the abilities?"

"Not quite it means that I've reached the height of realization of why I have these abilities and what they're for, in regards to why these came about in the first place for the aliens, but also for me in the fact that my mom was unknowingly pregnant and as such normal precautions weren't taken like they would have been, but even then since that has happened we've been told that what happened to me and my mom is extremely rare and possibly the only case that will ever happen"

"Because of the precautions?"

"Not just that but other reasons I can't get into as well"

"Very well, for now you guys have special training to get through"

"Wait, we just literally finished sea training, and we've already done horseback training, what else can we get training on?"

(Sighs) "I'm afraid a new division was added while you were away at sea with the Coast Guard and this class will be the first class to go through specialized training, unfortunately there's also SWAT training and bike training that you've forgotten, but like I said this training has to come first so that we can work out what kinks we might need to work out"

"Why does this suddenly make me very, very afraid for the future?"

"Because this is completely blindsiding you, but fortunately it's not  _that_  bad, just...complicated I guess you could say"

They go back to the classroom

"Okay class, there's a new division that's being created, but first you have to know the background behind why this division is needed, many of you may have heard about Winspector, which is a specialized Japanese police division, and Winspector is also considered part of the EDC per a special agreement of some sort. This new division is basically a linguist division specializing in communicating with other countries, basically we're going to be the main go-to division when it comes to communicating between two different countries, now then if a Winspector division is also formed in the US they will be the ones to communicate between America and Japan primarily except in certain situations which will then require translators, this division is also needed because while we have translators and also have a device which can translate any language in the world it's been decided that the police in the area need to know all the languages in the world for themselves, however you will only be focusing on two other languages at most depending on several factors"

"Okay that is definitely complicated"

"Um, what about me? I already know nine other languages"

"You know more than nine, but I know why you won't admit to the last one, as for you, how would you feel about learning Arabic?"

"Sorry, going to have to refuse, but I have a very, very good reason for refusing to learn Arabic"

"And what reason might that be?"

"After I was released from the terrorist group a representative of Arabic speaking countries came to me and explained that they didn't want me to learn their language, not because I was dangerous but because I had been harmed by Arabic countries too much during my seven years with the terrorist group and they didn't want me harmed any further by understanding their language, if I decided to learn despite what they wished I am allowed but honestly I see their point and am respecting their wishes on this matter"

"Any other languages you might want to learn then?"

"Yep, Czech, and I have a good reason behind that too"

"And what might that reason be?"

"A friend lives in Czech Republic and I want to communicate using their language instead of them communicating with me in English all the time, because while they can speak English I think it would be nice to reciprocate their efforts to learn my language to communicate with me by learning their language to properly communicate with them"

"Then that's what we'll focus on for you"

Before they could do so however they heard an explosion on campus which meant everyone was running towards the sound to see what they could do to take care of the problem and also start the evacuation process if it was needed. When they get there they see an obvious issue

"Okay, cadets take care of the evacuation process, us instructors will take care of the intruders"

"Sorry, but I'm going to be fighting as well"

"And what makes you say that Kerenai?"

"I have one word for you, terrorists"

"Oh, wait did you get an update that we didn't?"

"Nope, but I  _did_ have seven years in that life and as such I know more groups by sight then you would"

"You win, okay you're in the fight as well then"

The group fights but before the final one could be fought the intruder brought out a note and gave it to an instructor

"Okay Kerenai, looks like the intruder is willing to surrender, but only to you and only after a fight for some reason, they said that they'll explain their reasoning's after the battle"

"Okay, only if you guys agree as well though,and make sure my fellow cadets stay out of it"

"We're fine with it, seeing as how it seems the only way"

"Then let's go"

Clair nods at her opponent and in a few moments the fight was on. After a few minutes Clair was fighting her opponent still when all of a sudden she heard something she wasn't fully expecting to hear after her punch had been blocked and put into a grip

*Read Oak Clair*

The person let's Clair go and she turns, but does something the other officers don't expect, she simply starts touching his face as if trying to memorize it, and then takes off the mustache (though they don't know that), and finally she hugs the attacker and speaks in soft tones for the moment

*Dad* (sighs in relief) *I was so worried about you, not knowing if you were alive or not, Daichi is safe by the way but we both have much to talk about with him*

*I guess it's safe to assume you already knew the truth?*

*Through the code word, I just wasn't ever sure if I would hear your death another way or not, or if you would get out before now and contact us through another channel*

*Well for now I think we both have some explaining to do to your fellow officers*

*Right, definitely needed since they are giving me weird looks, and by the way I'm still actually a cadet so we're going to be explaining to the instructors mainly*

*By the way Clair, never forget the family phrase whenever you start to worry about me*\

The two say the phrase together

"Le'n'ni kāason'naff kopta lesh fikla"

*I never forgot dad, in fact that was the only thing that kept me sane at times*

*Well, for now there's a lot of discussion to happen, by the way, why are you still at the academy?*

*That's a little complicated, but it involves what the academy actually does in regards to training*

*Okay then, if it's understood by you then that's fine with me*

The two then head towards the group who were visibly nervous and some still had their weapons out but were staying their hand for the moment knowing that Clair most likely had a reason she was doing what she was doing, even if it meant the rest of the group were currently confused

"Hey guys, say hello to my dad, who's been undercover for several months now"

"Can we please have a name?"

"My name is Masaki Shunsuke, or in America it would be Shunsuke Masaki"

"Wait, the letter, the phone call...all faked?"

"Not entirely chief, my family was unsure if my dad would live and as such they announced his death even to the Winspector team who was waiting outside the operating room, after he healed enough he went undercover as an EDC officer to take down the group we just took down, what no one knew was that I received a code word within the phone call that stated that dad was still alive as of when the phone call was made, but until now I didn't know if he would remain alive or if he would die during his mission, plus in regards to the letter Daichi told me what he knew not knowing about the codes that my family has specifically created, though he will now be informed about all the codes we have, and honestly it's needed after that near incident I only found out about recently" (switches to Japanese) *Incidentally about that dad, Daichi needs to learn self defense since he was almost abducted by enemies of the family*

*Understood, but only after he's gotten used to me in his life again*

*For now though he's at my place, I applied for and was granted emergency housing off campus so that I could take care of Daichi*

*Understood, he with a babysitter?*

*Yep*

*Maybe it's best to wait then since they won't know me*

*Good point, especially since it's a non EDC babysitter today*

*Think I'll help with training then*

*We can only ask, but for now we need to switch back to English*

The two immediately turn to the rest of the group and instantly know they're in for some questioning

"Okay you two, what was the language switch about?"

"Just needed to inform dad about a few things, now then I'm sure you guys have questions for both of us so let's go inside and take care of that now, besides we need to inform the EDC about him anyways, and I think we also need to call Winspector as well"

"Oh, we do indeed need to call them, Ryoma has things in hand though right?"

"For the most part dad, but I am getting a little worried about him from some reports I got from officers in Japan"

"He and I are going to have to have a talk won't we?"

"Not sure, but either way he and the rest of the team are expected to be in America next week, so you can confront him then if you want, for now question and answer time"

The two answer most of the questions given to them, a few they refused to answer but that was because of the fact that they either weren't entirely sure of the matter or because it was classified beyond what even the instructors were cleared to know and they were cleared to know a lot because of just who the academy trained. Afterwords Masaki helped with the training and then went home to Daichi who surprisingly understood what had happened, part of it was the fact that Daichi had known that such an assignment was always possible as soon as he was adopted, as such all he asked for was to be let in on the family code phrases and for the family to do their best to keep him informed on their current status

*That's doable, now then you're making dinner tonight, oh by the way, I have to ask since I wasn't told, have you discovered any food allergies?*

*Yes, and I have something called an epi-pen because of it*

*Just checking, how's your English coming?*

*It's getting there, but I still have a ways to go*

*Keep practicing with dad and you'll have it down in no time, now then I'm back to academy housing since you are now going to be living with dad again, but don't forget Daichi, if you need me get to the academy with the rules already established for such an occurrence*

"I know"

"So you knew losing this place was a possibility?"

"Yes, but at the same time I knew that until we knew for sure if you were dead or alive Daichi needed a place that was similar to Japan, thus the apartment living and me living off campus which isn't normally done, now then I have classes to get back to and hopefully soon I will know Czech and graduate from the academy"

"Agreed, though there are those who will not graduate"

"True, but that's because they've chosen the path of the EDC officer, and as one of the few academies authorized to train EDC officers they're going to spend an extra year doing specialized training, by the way about the American Winspector branch?"

"Oh that training has been going on from the beginning, only the suit training will need to be done, and of course learning Japanese will need to be done as well, but if you get through the police academy you have the training you need depending on the academy now that I think about it"

"Wait, I might have to go through the EDC training part as well since Winspector is officially part of the EDC"

"No, but that's because you were raised in that environment for ten years so you don't need any training, the other officers will need some of that training but it will be heavily modified and shortened from the amount of training normal EDC officers get"

"Ah that makes sense, by the way if anyone asks how I managed to learn the amount of languages I know, they are able to know that I have an affinity for languages for some reason, that isn't classified and is in fact on record some where's in the government as a special ability, and it's a matter of public record too if you want to know some of the basics about me"

"Since when?"

"Uh, since I was nine years old and I managed to learn three languages in two years, now then admittedly not many people actually know my language affinity, but like I said it's public record if you want to know how I manage to learn a language so fast"

"Guess I still don't know everything I should about you even after four years of you being my daughter"

"Well like I said, for now it's time for me to go back to the academy and finish up my training"

And so Clair went back to living on campus grounds and soon mastered Czech, a few months later she would graduate with honors and at the same time get onto the Winspector team due to the fact that Winspector had to do an inspection and had decided to do it on her graduation day

_Graduation day_

"And now with full honors Clair Elisa Kerenai-Masaki"

Suddenly though everyone is ducking from a projectile and as soon as Clair sees what had been aimed at them she instantly knew the culprit

"Bikel! I'm going to get you for this!"

*Clair it's not his fault*

*You're in on this too dad?*

*Inspection Clair, it just turned out this way, full explanations after the ceremony*

*There'd better be*

The graduation ceremonies eventually end and then the Winspector team explains that they had been asked by the EDC to do inspections on all police facilities that were authorized to train EDC officers, and it really was chance that the timing of the inspection for that particular academy was at the same time as Clair's graduation

"Okay then you're not in any trouble but still, did this have to be an unannounced inspection?"

"Yes, we have to do a certain amount of announced inspections and unannounced inspections and this academy was in the unannounced rotation"

"Very well, is the inspection annual?"

"That we're not sure about, all we know is that we were asked to do the inspections this time around since we are technically part of the EDC"

"Okay then like Clair said you're not in trouble, but I  _do_  need a full report on the inspection so that I know where we went wrong or where we went right for future possible inspections"

"I figured as much and already have a report mostly prepared, just a few finishing touches, because we've actually been setting this up for  _days_  now"

"By the way, where's Daichi?"

"At the EDC base, remember how I mentioned something seemed off recently?"

"Yeah, my visit when you mentioned that was not normal, even I could see that something was off"

"Turns out he's sick, and I don't mean a mild cold but a potentially deadly illness, he's currently undergoing medical tests to see what's wrong with him"

After things were settled they went to visit Daichi and it would turn out that while he didn't have a deadly illness it was still pretty serious for him

"In all honesty we're still not sure how he managed to get Lyme disease and Malaria both at the same time seeing as how he mainly lives in Japan"

"It might be my fault, I decided to take him to a special museum and didn't quite think about mosquitoes being in their plus I forgot about the fact that there are deer's in the area around the museum"

"Then you're not to blame if you visited that museum early on, it's just that the symptoms didn't hit until more recently for some odd reason"

"Fine, but I still insist on paying what insurance won't"

"But Clair..."

"Sorry dad, you're outvoted, besides you know full well that I can currently cover it due to...those accounts that I won't mention in public"

"Clair..."

"Masaki don't make me pull special rank, I may be your adoptive daughter but you know full well that in certain medical areas I can pull rank"

"Okay I won't make you pull rank, and I know you won't accept payment seeing as how he's your brother, but I  _do_  insist on letting me know what the insurance doesn't cover so that the EDC and the Japanese government can be prepared in the future for such occurrences to possibly set up their own accounts with hospitals across America"

"That's something I can agree to especially since what's going on isn't entirely normal as far as I'm aware"

It would ultimately turn out that part of the problem was that the medical field had never encountered both Lyme and Malaria at once, the other part was that insurance only covered so much and as such while the insurance helped cover the cost of the hospital and his medication Clair still had to cover about 2/3rds of the medical bill over the period of several months, during which she also started her new job

"Hi, I'm Clair Elisa Kerenai-Masaki reporting for my first day of duty"

"Hold on and I'll get the chief"

Before that happened though Clair sees something that she  _knows_  the officer wasn't cleared for and as such went over to his computer and casually imputed her own codes

"Now, now that's not information meant for a police officer of your clearance to know, I won't report this for the moment but if I see that information on your screen again I will have no choice but to do so"

"But I need that information"

"What for?"

"My brother..."

"Look, your brother wouldn't want you to get into trouble over this, as such please understand that I can't let you have access to that information unless it pertains to a case your working on"

The chief walks in just then having heard the conversation

"John, I thought we talked about this, even though the case was the last case your brother was working on you yourself can't work on it due to a conflict of interest, I'm sorry but Kerenai-Masaki is right, you can't have access on the information pertaining to his last case so that we have a clear cut case that can't be thrown out because of personal feelings, I let you back on duty sooner than I wanted but I  _will_  pull you from duty again if I think it's needed"

"Hello chief Clair Kerenai-Masaki reporting for duty"

"Naturally, and thank you for keeping him out of trouble...wait if he actually accessed the files himself he's still in trouble"

"Except that it would be automatically locked against his access codes, which means he has an unwitting accomplice"

"Actually, not quite what we have is an accomplice who wanted a family member to have the closure they never had, not realizing that there are rules in place about that for a reason"

"How is that possible?"

"Well, as to that it's a bit complicated from what I understand, basically the reason they don't understand the rules is something about how an accident affected how their brains works, but at the same time it never affected their ability to work here as a part time police officer"

"Oh I know what's going on there then, okay the person isn't in trouble because I think I know who they are and if my suspicions are right then what's happening here in this situation is that all they are thinking about is letting another family get the closure they think they'll never get"

"They're off today but I have their personnel file for confirmation"

Clair looks at the file and nods

"Yep it's who I thought it was, the problem is they actually did get closure but that accident you mentioned? I'm afraid it's given him amnesia about his family and he can never be alone with family that doesn't have closure because he has indeed forgotten about the rules regarding that kind of issue. You see he developed that amnesia because of a specific coma he was in for several months"

"What coma?"

"An HMSPF coma, that coma is highly unpredictable and unfortunately he was moved in that coma, we're lucky he didn't die, but he did lose certain aspects of his memories because of it"

"A..a what coma?"

"An HMSPF coma, it stands for hypersensitive motion suppressing physical function and it's the most dangerous coma known to the medical field, few people have been in the coma and even fewer have survived and so far only one has managed without any known side effects"

"Well for now we need to finish your paperwork so that you can actually start working"

"Right"

The two go back to the chief's office and finish up the paperwork

"Oh there's one more thing to take care of"

"What's that?"

"This, here's your second identity"

"Wait I was told that I wasn't ever allowed to go undercover"

"And you're not, due to international rules, however it's dangerous enough at this station that all officers have two identities, and if anyone has to go undercover they get a third mission duration identity as well, this second identity is for if you have to go to ground for whatever reason, the identity will keep you and your loved ones safe from harm at need"

"Does the government even know about this?"

"Yes, they were the ones to implement the procedure in the first place, why this station is more dangerous then most is not to be told until you need to know or you have been here for six months, standard operating procedure by the way, the only exception is if they come here from another police department, the EDC or the military or other similar background"

"Understood, but you do know that I already have the clearance"

"True, but I want you working for a few days first to understand the station before I tell you why the government needs us to have second identifications on us"

"Very well"

"Now then until you're more familiar with the area..."

Suddenly Clair dives for the chief and takes him down before the glass shatters, she herself is ultimately injured by the glass since she forgoes her shields, but she quickly has her weapon out and shoots at the target making sure to hit non vital areas, which allows other officers to apprehend the criminal without harm

"That's nice, first day on the job and my uniform is already destroyed...and I totally forgot just how painful glass is in wounds, this is going to burn like crazy until I get proper wound care and even then getting the glass out isn't going to be much fun either"

"And just how are you still functional?"

"Don't ask chief, mainly because you're going to be getting a file soon so that you understand me due to your security clearance"

Clair would write up her report and help book the prisoner before seeking medical attention which was painful like she predicted

"So what I'm wondering is how you feel about scarring"

"Did you not see the faded scars already on my back doctor?"

"With as much blood as we're still getting off to properly see which wounds need stitching and which don't I'm afraid not"

"Well let's just say that scars aren't all that big a deal for me, it's figuring out the wound care that's going to be the problem"

"I can see that, I do have another valid question though, according to you wound care has been delayed by three hours, just how did you manage to deal with the pain for that long?"

"Mild nerve damage in my back due to the previous scars, I can still feel most pressures and if something really hurts me I can feel that, but minor cuts and abrasions aren't noticed by me until someone else mentions it, incidentally I can no longer feel any itchiness unless it's caused from wounds like these either"

"Mild nerve damage doesn't equate ignoring something like this for as long as you did"

"Actually it does partially, due to the mild nerve damage I can feel the wounds but it's slightly duller in regards to the pain then most, that combined with my training means I can ignore wounds others wouldn't for a little longer than most people, if that is the case though I am carefully watched for other dangers like blood loss"

"Well we're actually going to have to give you mild sedation for this job, because from the way you're moving your back I can tell we haven't gotten all the glass out and that mild nerve damage isn't in your favors right now"

"Actually you haven't gotten any of the glass out from what I can tell"

"Oh we have, you just didn't notice it for some reason"

"Whatever, fair warning first though, don't mess with the locket, or if you do make sure I have it back before I wake up"

"You have a good reason?"

"Yep, and if I don't have it when I wake up I can say I already warned you"

Sadly for the group they ignored Clair's warning and got a full blown PTSD episode from Clair, and it wasn't one of her nicer episode's either, she was fighting them for several minutes before one of her fellow officers heard the commotion and amazingly enough called out the code phrase to calm her down


	33. Chapter 33

"Where...is...the locket?"

"With security, we decided that it was for the best that you didn't have your locket until we knew for sure that things were okay"

"Next time listen to me and make sure I have the locket, when did you notice I was starting to wake up?"

"Fifteen minutes before you actually stirred, and another four minutes for you to actually regain consciousness"

"So you basically had almost twenty minutes to make sure my locket was on me, that locket is a grounding tool for me, basically if I have the locket I can assure myself that I am safe and with allies, either that or I know why I am doing whatever it is I am doing, it literally has the ability to bring me out of PTSD episodes or episodes where I have been blindfolded and bound for too long and am lost in my mind about the past"

"Why didn't you tell us that before we sedated you?"

"It's in my medical records to make sure that if the locket is removed return it ASAP, if not the exact reason as to why, who brought me out of the episodes anyways?"

"I did Kerenai-Masaki"

"And just how do you know the code?"

"I was raised in the EDC"

"Okay that makes sense then"

Clair was released the next day with strict wound instructions which she knew would only get done by having to see a specified police medic on a daily basis until her back had healed, but she also knew that it was what it was, the most annoying thing in her mind was the fact that she was restricted to desk duty until her back had healed enough for the police medic to clear her and that varied depending on the medic

"So desk duty"

"Yep, might actually be for the best since there's something that I need to work on, by the way the reason we have second identifications?"

"Right, well you already know that this is going to be Winspector headquarters for the American branch once we get it up and running, you seeing your family here let's you know that, what not many people know though is that this is also an EDC way point for those going to a safe house, basically this is a stop for those going into hiding for a temporary amount of time, and that's why we all have secondary identifications on us at all times, if this is discovered we may have to go into hiding ourselves and having a second identification on us makes us blend in easier and also helps keep our families safe at the same time"

"And the officers?"

"Don't find out except in the situations I mentioned on day one, part of the reason why is because during that six month period you are being tested to see if you actually can handle the unique situation the station is in, there are several tests and if you pass then and only then are you told the full truth about this police station, if officers are transferred here they have already passed those tests at other police stations and of course the EDC and military are already hyper aware of how important safe houses can be"

"Well for now we don't have a Winspector unit, though hopefully that should be happening within the next few months, until then we're going to need the fire department at all rescues, granted they're still going to be needed at times, but at least we can be more active participants as a Winspector unit"

"Oh?"

"Yep, active search and rescue, now then due to my injuries I have yet to try the new suit but according to my family all kinks have been worked out and there's no longer a time limit which is good considering some of the situations police officers can get into"

Suddenly alarms started going off and Clair found herself having to fight despite not being fit for more than desk duty for one reason and one reason only, the entire block that the station was on was under attack and as such it was either fight or die. Most people were still not aware of Clair's abilities since she used her own judgment as to when to activate her powers and when not to, and that also included when or when not to use the training she received with the terrorist group and then there was the fact that there was also a clearance issue, but slowly and surely the clearance issue was getting lower and lower at her insistence due to knowing about Winspector being activated once all the prospective team members were gathered. The entire station was not aware of her abilities in full but they were aware of the fact that she had been with a terrorist group for seven years by force and as such might have skills not taught to regular police officers and they were also aware of the fact that she had PTSD, that had been made mandatory more recently by the EDC themselves. As such when they saw Clair just go into the fight despite being injured they knew that she understood that it was her only hope, and they themselves weren't as worried as they normally would be due to the knowledge of her seven years as a terrorist. Clair immediately started to fight and soon into the fight she started to notice that the movement was very familiar to her

"Everyone avoid hand to hand combat for a bit, there's something I need to check real quick"

She activated her powers and a slightly newer ability and realized why things were so familiar in the movement

(To herself) "I was right, the EDC banned full body cloning several years before I was even born with the approval of the world governments, as such all medical facilities that take blood on a regular basis have special locks, as such there's only one time period where my blood would have been openly available, especially to make this many stable clones" (out loud) "everyone be careful, your opponents are clones of myself! I fight dirty and unconventionally due to knowing five different martial arts styles as such this is not safe, and by the way I only have a suspicion about how this many stable clones were made of me, but we need to properly investigate it after we take them down"

"That's nice, how do we beat you then?"

"I have absolutely no idea right now, because quite frankly there's more about the clones you aren't aware of that I don't want you to be aware of unless necessary due to security risk"

Suddenly though things were taken out of Clair's hands due to the fact that five of her clones at once used different abilities within her powers

"What was that?!"

" _That_ was the security risk, I was born with special powers that activated when I was around five, and I have a lot of abilities including a slightly newer ability to recognize clones and those who have the same abilities as me, this makes the situation much more dangerous, and one more thing, except for rare cases I don't get exhausted using my abilities anymore, so unless the clones have my old limits we are in big trouble and I'm the only one who ultimately will be able to take all the clones down, but that will physically exhaust me due to having to do a lot of running around"

Suddenly she heard a very familiar voice

"That's why we've been ordered by the EDC to remain here until your unit is up and running, including how to stop you in a worse case scenario"  
She turns around and is visibly relieved

"Dad...good to know you're here, Daichi?"

"At the base where else?"

"Point, so want to help take down all these clones of me and then go from there?"

"With pleasure"

"By the way, and this applies to Winspector and normal police alike, watch yourselves because I have no clue if any modifications have been done to these clones"

The fighting ultimately took five hours and during that time period there was an explosion in the same area as Masaki had been in, but Clair did her duty and made sure to focus on taking down the clones first and then going to the explosion area and they saw massive destruction

"Kerenai-Masaki!"

Clair runs over to the officer who had yelled for her

"I'm sorry, this is all that I found"

Clair is given an arm, with the clan tattoo visible on the shoulder

"This isn't proof, he could still be alive, this is a partially cloned arm with mechanical aspects as well. Winspector I will explain everything eventually but needless to say that one event we did as father/daughter the summer before my senior year wasn't as uneventful as we claimed it was, but again the full story is for later, for now dad is seriously hurt and in need of immediate medical attention if he hasn't been abducted"

"But Kerenai-Masaki..."

"He isn't dead, I refuse to believe that until we have more than just one piece of his body, I  _refuse_ "

Clair let's go of the arm and uses that same hand to grasp her shoulder where her clan tattoo would be, making that part bloody on her uniform as she let's it be known she was refusing to acknowledge the possibility of her adoptive father's death, she then takes a deep breath and switches to Japanese deliberately

*Ryoma, Daichi is not to be told about this right now, if he asks tell him his sister said she wanted some father/daughter time for a few days trusting the EDC to take care of him in the meantime, this is to give us time to find out the truth, Hisako, I need you to use your undercover experience and start questioning the general public as discreetly as possible about what's been going on the past few days, because there's absolutely no way my clones just arrived today, not with the coordination they pulled off, you can't learn this place that fast, everyone else in Winspector is to keep up the investigation into whether dad is alive or not*

*But Clair...*

*Do  _not_  mess with me right now Bikel, I am  _barely_  keeping my composure at the moment due to thinking of the possibility that dad is dead, I have to put up a front for the officers here and eventually Daichi until we know for certain one way or the other, there's also the fact that I have  _absolutely no clue_  if there are more clones of me out there, as such I  _cannot_  afford to have an emotional breakdown right now, is that understood?*

*Crystal Clair*

*Good, now everyone get going to obey my orders*

*Clair, you do know...*

*Yeah I know, but for now I don't want to think about it understood?*

*Perfectly, you need to keep busy until further notice I understand that, but make sure to take care of yourself as well please*

*Not to worry I know that, now again get going to obey my orders*

The next three days were spent taking care of the aftermath of the attack, and with Hisako being who she was she discovered that the clones had actually been in place for two months before the attack,  _that_ had surprised everyone at the police station, who were really only just getting settled into having the Japanese Winspector unit there on a regular basis in preparation for the American Winspector unit, which was still in the process of being formed due to the fact that quite frankly not many police officers had any EDC training and there was the fact that they would also need to learn the Japanese language and not everyone was like Clair and could easily learn a foreign language

"Okay how did we not notice clones until the day of the attack?"

"Two reasons, first off none of you met Clair until she started work, which was interrupted, the second reason is because they were  _good_  at blending in, they had Clair's skills in almost every way including knowing instinctively how to blend in, even if she's never allowed to go undercover, as such even if you had never met her before you would have noticed something was off and discovered the issue before it became an issue"

"By the way, a little off topic, but why exactly was the police station attacked my first day? I'm asking because I think that affected our defenses a bit unless I am reading the station wrong"

"Turns out that the attack was because of a policy that was recently put in place in regards to any prisoners we take under a certain age, several people aren't too happy, but unfortunately after a few incidents people higher up than me are insisting on those changes, and you're right it has affected our defenses slightly"

"Well either way the clones caused a lot of issues for us"

"Yeah, they have my skills completely and from what I can tell none of my old weaknesses, which is a  _bad_  thing for us"

"Wait you think there are more clones of you out there?"

(Sighs) "I'm afraid so, I lost  _a lot_  of blood during the seven year period I was considered a terrorist"

"But you can't honestly think that a terrorist would actually..."

"Can't I? I don't think you quite understand what exactly a terrorist is capable of with illegal gains and intent, because trust me there are plenty of underground medical facilities that terrorists can go to for many things, plus while the EDC and world governments have banned full body cloning they have not banned cloning certain organs in the medical field and as such the equipment is easily available to steal and equipment  _has_  been stolen in the past despite any security that may be on it"

"Have you done any of the thefts?"

"Yes, I even made sure no one knew it was me so that I could remain with the group to protect my family at the time, it's part of what makes me so dangerous and allowed me to be with the terrorist group for seven years"

"And why there's now international laws against you ever going undercover again"

"Exactly, I was severely damaged during that time period, though if you just look at me physically you would never be able to tell just how bad it is unless you see my scars, and even then you still wouldn't think it that bad, but combine that with the PTSD I have and you get why I can't do undercover work anymore"

"You have no mental ability to be undercover anymore, especially for that long a period"

"Yes, if I have to use the second identification I will, but I won't like it"

"Does the government even know what they're asking of you with this second identification?"

"Yes they do, but they also know that if it's the only way to survive then I will take that chance of losing myself once more, because that's basically what partially happened during those seven years, I basically  _became_  what the group wanted me to become, even if it was partially under the influence of drugs for almost two full years, it still happened"

"Oh by the way, due to how things went down everyone is now required to take the bus for a few days, including to any informant meetings"

"Oh no, no way, no how, not happening"

"Sorry Kerenai-Masaki, but those are orders from me"

"Your orders are going to have to come from higher up then you Captain"

"And what for?"

"Claustrophobic, by a lot, also due to the seven years"

"Just how bad could it be after five years?"

"Still refuse to get on an elevator if I can avoid it, and public transportation still has me hesitating ever so slightly, it's also why I was hopefully visibly uncomfortable in your office with the windows and doors closed"

"Okay, oh by the way I have to ask all things considered, are you getting any sleep?"

"Nope, my brain is actually going, what exactly is sleep right now? I get at most two hours before I can't sleep anymore due to an unusually long period of PTSD episodes in succession"

"You really are struggling without your family aren't you?"

"Yep it looks like it, but there's also no other choice"

"Clair..."

"No Ryoma, I knew this was a possibility from the start, if it gets bad enough I will see someone, and if it remains bad enough or gets worse they will legit sedate me until I can sleep normally again, good EDC sedatives that have no addiction risk"

"How is that possible?"

"Ryoma, you've been working for the EDC for how long now?"

"Except we don't need medical attention all that often and especially not the kind you occasionally need"

"You have a point there"

"Either way it looks like Clair can manage her condition, how is your search for your commanding officer going?"

"No further leads, and Clair Daichi needs to be told soon"

"I know Ryoma, I plan on telling him tonight at the base, if you guys have to go any where's are the arrangements made?"

"Yes, you?"

"Don't worry things are handled on my end, but like I said dad may still be alive and we just don't know it yet"

"We know, your refusal to think so is actually giving us some kind of hope that what you're saying is true, but we're also concerned for Daichi in regards to your faith"

"I know you are, but for now it's the only thing keeping me going I think"

"Very well"

"Clair..."

"Yes Junko?"

"We might have to leave for at least two weeks soon"

"What, why?"

"Have you received any reports about China?"

"Yes I have"

"Then you know about the civil unrest being caused by aliens that can look like humans, unfortunately there's an EDC base that's been hard and they need more personnel, especially personnel that can fight and we match that description the best"

"Right, you're EDC officers and at the same time police officers which means you have dual jurisdiction depending on where you are, and either way you know how to handle yourself better than some new EDC officer"

"Exactly, but you do know that without the Commander..."

"Yeah I know, but for now it's best that Daichi remains at the base, mainly because my current apartment is not suited for him and me"

"Oh?"

"Water pipe burst, I myself am going to be staying at base until further notice"

"When did this happen?"

"Just now apparently"

Clair shows her phone to her police chief showing a message from her landlord mentioning the pipe burst and that residents were being temporarily moved to other locations, at which she replied she had a place to stay until further notice which relieved the landlord of finding a place for her

"Okay, oh this means you're his legal guardian again aren't you?"

"Indeed I am"

The Winspector team then switched back to Japanese for a very good reason

*Clair, we might know why the Commander did what he did now that we've actually talked about it, remember when you had your graduation ceremony you dad received a call?*

*Yes, what about it?*

*He received word about a new possible terrorist group from Ichirou Kagesawa who as you know is part of the EDC, if he feels now is the time to take a closer look he would fake his death to keep us out of it until needed*

*True, and by the way I still owe you the story about his arm*

*Yes you do*

And so Clair explains that the summer before her senior year when they went on the month long father/daughter camping trip, Masaki was seriously injured in a kayaking accident where his arm was crushed on boulders, as it was he was lucky he didn't have a near drowning accident either. The doctors ultimately amputated his arm just below the shoulder but realized that there wouldn't really be much of a stump to make a prosthetic arm and as such they cloned a little more of his arm and then also made sure to clone enough of his skin to cover the prosthesis so that he could have the normal sensations of touch but that was all that was really cloned, the rest was a mechanical arm that her family had developed for the medical field years before she had been born


	34. Chapter 34

*Thus the reason I won't believe his death until I have more proof than just the arm, it's very likely that the arm was blown off and he's fine, just missing the arm*

*But Clair, his entire shoulder is now missing and you said yourself that he was seriously injured, most likely  _because_  his entire shoulder is now missing and there was a lot of blood*

*Except he's been required to take special EDC first aid lessons and while he's still injured he would have countered the blood loss long ago if at all possible, and if he was captured well...his captors would have made sure he had medical attention in case they have use for him later*

*By the way, how's training been?*

*I can still break bones if I'm not careful, as it is I completely destroyed two regular training robots and seriously damaged an EDC training robot yesterday because I wasn't thinking about what I was doing, there's a reason I decided not to compete in tournaments for the moment though I have been asked to*

*And your other skills?*

*As strong and under my control as ever, you know full well the training I've had for that to happen*

*Yes, but we also know the seven year time period makes you more likely to have an emotional slip up depending on several factors, and what's happened to your dad is one of the factors*

*I know, but my Cybertronian family is helping me as much as possible in that area*

*Fine then*

The Winspector team ultimately was indeed ordered to China to help the base that was worst off and Clair and Daichi said goodbye at the base they were staying at. Meanwhile Masaki had indeed managed to escape the terrorists and was alive like Clair had believed, granted things weren't exactly the greatest in regards to his condition and current living space, but he was alive and doing fine in regards to the fact that he had taken steps once in a secure place to do proper field medicine, knowing he wouldn't be fit without doing so and also knowing he would need proper medical attention at a later date. Once that was done he started looking into the terrorist group and discovered that it wasn't as bad as Kagesawa thought it was and as such discreetly passed that onto him and decided it was time to go home knowing that Clair and Daichi would be worried about him, as would his team, but first he really, really needed proper medical attention for his missing arm and as such prepared himself by making sure all the proper identification paperwork was with him and then looked around to find an actual hospital (he had already identified underground hospitals his first day conscious and fully aware of his surroundings but had decided to wait until he knew for sure if he would need them or not)

"Great, I need a hospital and there isn't one in my vicinity, well time to walk until I actually find a hospital then"

Masaki eventually finds a hospital and walks in the emergency room, due to the fact that he wasn't showing any danger signs he was asked by a nurse to take a seat and fill out his form due to the fact that all he said when initially asked was that he had hurt himself badly enough that he felt it was better to get taken care of at the hospital, though he was not bleeding profusely enough to call for an ambulance. While doing the paperwork (slowly and slightly illegible, he would have to alert the nurse to it not being his dominant hand) he also paid attention to his surroundings like any police officer would and soon noticed two people who looked like they wanted to cause trouble and as such kept a closer eye on them, but before they could act three police officers came in with a belligerent person in their custody, and by the sigh of the nurse on duty it was obvious they were either familiar with the officers or familiar with the potential patient, only to quickly find out it was both

"Did Josh decide to run from the canine unit again Mike?"

"Yep, needs to be cleared of dog bites, and I think he actually broke his wrist this time when he tripped trying to get away from Molly, John and Carlos decided to come with this time because he's slightly calmer with Carlos around and as for John well he definitely got hurt in the leg this time, minor wound but still"

"What did you do John?"

"Decided to try and tackle the guy before he escaped the first time, didn't realize that Josh here had his knife on him, got slashed, but it seems to be superficial, just needs stitches due to the length of the wound and not the depth"

Suddenly Josh broke free and that's when Masaki made his move, he dropped his paperwork and tried to kick the suspect to the ground, and while that didn't succeed the punch to the stomach knocked the wind out of the suspect long enough for Masaki to get him down in a standard custody hold since the suspect was able to break the handcuffs somehow (Masaki had seen him break the cuffs but wasn't sure how that was made possible)

"Is he under suspicion of something related to alcohol?"

"How'd you know sir?"

"He stinks of it, and by the way mister, you just got beaten by someone with just one arm, who was wounded only a few days ago, recent concussion and most likely assumed dead by fellow officers due to being caught in an explosion that cost them that arm in the first place, I am  _excellent_  at first aid which is why I didn't bleed out by the way officers"

"Who are you?"

"Shunsuke Masaki at your service"

"Ma...Masaki-san, you're alive?"

"Yes I am, sorry about what the police have been through for the past few days, but it was needed unfortunately"

"Well I know two people who will be relieved to hear from you"

"I know, how are they anyways?"

"Living at the EDC base, something about the apartment being flooded and as such not livable"

"By the way Masaki-san, you're bleeding"

"Huh?"

Masaki looks at where his arm  _should_  be and realizes that the officer was right, he was indeed bleeding

"I thought I already took care of that"

That's when the nurse speaks up

"Apparently not sir, you're coming with me ASAP to get properly taken care of, where's your paperwork?"

"Should be where I was sitting before this idiot came in, oh and officers there's two others you might want to keep an eye out for"

"Nope, not anymore we were thinking about causing trouble admittedly because of how long we've been here waiting on word for someone else but we'll just be calm and wait patiently for the doctor"

"You'd better"

Masaki was quickly taken to the back where he passes out from blood loss, having not realized that while he may be excellent at field medicine he had unfortunately delayed medical care a bit too long that time, plus he had jarred all his wounds open again which made matters that much worse, and it was ultimately decided he needed immediate emergency surgery and a call to the EDC was also made due to the fact that he was clearly identified as part of the EDC by the officers with their suspect. Five hours and three blood transfusions later Masaki was declared in serious but stable condition and would be allowed visitors shortly

"Have any family been called?"

"Yes, unfortunately they can't come right now, one is currently at work and the other is currently at school, or well not school exactly but not able to come anyways"

"That makes no sense"

"One is a police officer like her dad the other is just about old enough for school but there's still a few things that need worked out in regards to that and even though they will be with EDC officers security is just tight enough that the two aren't allowed off base separately except in regards to when the one is working"

"Relationship to the patient?"

"Both are his adopted kids, one was adopted at eighteen by mutual consent the other was adopted at a much younger age, for the eighteen year old there's more involved in regards to that adoption but it's partially sealed by the EDC, as for the younger one, that one is completely sealed by the EDC"

"Wait, why is the older one only partially sealed while the younger one is completely sealed?"

Masaki had chosen at that point to wake up since they were in his hospital room as one officer remained behind to be his personal guard for the rest of his shift and spoke up

"Because...my daughter...was a...legal adult in...America when...she was...adopted by me...my son...on the...other hand...is a minor...no matter what country...you are in...thus why we...had his records sealed"

"Masaki-san I thought you would still be asleep"

"Training"

"Right, the EDC would have done that wouldn't they? I mean considering the fact that you are part of them and I got access to your files after we alerted the EDC"

"Why would they give you his files?"

"Classified, and besides there's more about me that you don't know doctor but I can tell Masaki-san this and he will know who I am instantly Alpha 5, Delta 9, blue skies"

Masaki's eyes go wide at hearing that code, it was the code for a police officer who was also high ranking in any of the armed forces branches that was completely cleared to know about the Kerenai-Masaki family

"Good to have you here"

"Knew that, by the way the doctor might need to sedate you for a bit, you're supposed to still be out of it"

"Thought waking up soon after surgery was good sign"

"Except in your situation Masaki-san, your obvious injury, plus hidden injuries equals three blood units and more on the way due to you needing the cloning surgery"

"Not possible this time I don't think"

"Oh it's happening, just not right now, only just got you stable"

"Speaking of which this officer is right, nap time for you mister"

Masaki is put to sleep with a sedative and Clair and Daichi come soon after, and while they only see him while asleep it was more important to see him simply alive in everyone's mind, including Clair because she was becoming worried and stressed that she would have to become Daichi's legal guardian and reveal the other half of the family to Daichi sooner than she wanted to since she knew she would need help from the Cybertronian half of the Kerenai-Masaki clan

"It's good to see him, even if he's asleep and apparently needs more surgery"

"Yeah, by the way, your dad is impressive Clair"

"Oh?"

"Took down a suspect with one arm, forced him up the que pretty fast since he started bleeding out again but still..."

"Yeah, EDC taught all of Winspector how to fight despite disadvantages of any sort, they can even fight literally blind if they have to"

"By the way, about the American Winspector unit..."

"It's coming along on schedule, I've only been a police officer for a few weeks now, we're still getting things established for me to actually have an American Winspector unit, and one of the requirements is fluency in Japanese, which makes it that much harder to have an American branch of Winspector"

"But it is possible?"

"Yes, just takes a little longer is all due to the specific requirements needed for this unit, but hopefully within six months I will have my own unit up and running smoothly"

The chief then comes in

"Actually Kerenai-Masaki much sooner than you think, with help from the EDC you might have a unit up an running within another two months"

"Oh?"

"Yep, they realized that the academy you graduated from was the perfect place to find potential members of the American Winspector unit, either from recent graduates or those who have already graduated, the ones chosen just need to go back for an intensive month long course in EDC procedures, in the meantime you can start doing suit testing as well to see who would work best in the suits"

"That makes sense, okay I'll report for suit training in the morning if I have leave to do so"

"Oh we've been waiting for word on this since your first day, you have leave to do so"

Suddenly chaos broke out and when they received footage Clair  _paled_

"Kerenai-Masaki?"

"Chief, call in SWAT, immediately, in the meantime I'm going to do my best to mitigate damage"

"Kerenai-Masaki, report"

"That's a terrorist group out there, one of the less scrupulous ones, basically one of the ones who won't follow terrorists rules put into place while I was with my own terrorist group for seven years, they're also one of the more dangerous ones as well, if need be I will die to take them out but I hope that doesn't have to be the case"

Ultimately Clair would win the fight using actual weapons forged by her Cybertronian family, mostly because she stole the weapons back from the enemy in the first place

_Battle_

"Everyone here is safe now"

"Behind you!"

Clair turns and knocks her opponent against the wall and then uses her abilities to make sure that the enemy would be knocked unconscious for at least two hours

"Okay  _now_  you're safe"

"We're fine, but your blade..."

"It's fine, I can reforge it since I know the properties and the techniques to do so"

_Present_

"So about the blade you said you can reforge..."

"Oh I can do it, and then it's going to my family...those terrorists didn't know this but this blade is an ancient Cybertronian weapon with unique properties that even Galvatron and the Primes don't fully understand, all they know is that when I touched the weapon for the first time it became a manageable size for me to wield it"

"You know that should be impossible right?"

"Oh I know this, but it is what it is, my family also made me a sword upon my return home, even though I can make weapons from my powers they decided to give me a sword anyways, and this sword is almost like a lightsaber in Star Wars, except a little different"

"How so?"

"For one it's not pure energy and for another you can tell it's a blade, just not the actual length"

"Oh?"

Clair brings out the weapon in question and they saw that yes it was definitely a blade, but not the true sword length, it was more like a survival knife in size than anything

"So how does it extend?"

"By the button where my thumb is, I consider this an emergency weapon because while making weapons out of my own powers no longer weakens me there are times having a physical weapon is better depending on the situation, there's also times where I can't reveal my powers and having an actual weapon is the only option, and with it being known my family is connected to the EDC that means the weapon isn't questioned in the fact that it can go from knife to sword size in a moment's notice"

"By the way, it's kind of odd to see a button near the pummel of the hilt of the knife instead of near the top"

"I hold all blade's that don't need a proper grip in the reverse grip, it's part of my powers due to the aliens I got my powers from, it's complicated"

"Very well, now then like I said training starts tomorrow for you while the others will get both suit training and EDC training at the same time and hopefully within two months you'll be a fully functional Winspector unit in America"

"Good to know, but don't be surprised if it takes a little longer than you suspect all things considered"

Ultimately it would indeed only take two months for the new unit to be up and operational, but trusted, that was another story, while they were training the main Winspector unit came back from China and was reunited with Masaki who they were relieved to see alive, and Masaki had his arm again, turned out that the cloning process was a little more advanced than what the doctor thought and managed to bring back just enough of the shoulder for a proper prosthesis like before

"Clair, thanks for having faith in me"

"It wasn't any problem dad, in a way that is, I refused to believe your death because of the family phrase for the most part"

"But Clair the phrase is..."

"I know, but with what I knew about the arm and the family phrase that made me refuse your death without proof"

"And almost ruined your uniform"

"Okay so I shouldn't have done that, but you know about the tattoo of the clan"

"Which is why I made sure you didn't get in trouble, though why doesn't your captain know about the clan tattoo?"

"That's because of a unique clause in a contract my family signed with the government before I was even old enough to walk, the addendum was added after dad here was made part of the family but still due to how old that contract is the captain can't know for a while longer about the clan tattoo, you'll find out why soon enough"

"Now then the Japanese Winspector will remain until the American Winspector is accepted"

"Good to know"

"For now though we have a raid to deal with"

The chief goes over the raid details and Clair is forced to speak up

"Well this is going to get complicated real quick"

"What for?"

"That's a terrorist cell"

"That doesn't mean it will get complicated, we just need to use SWAT a little sooner is all"

"Is SWAT even here for the debriefing?"

"No"

"Get them in here then"

The SWAT team is brought in and when asked if anyone has any final words Clair speaks up again

"Fair warning, terrorists hate cops on principle, however for me there's a special hatred out there in regards to terrorists"

"Oh what makes you say that?"

"The fact that I was basically the cause of the downfall of one of the biggest terrorist organizations at the time they fell, now then I wasn't actually there for the arrests, but I provided the police with all the information they needed to take the terrorist group down. Another reason is because of the fact that I managed to take down that group by being one of them for seven years, even if almost two years of it was spent under the influence of drugs since the terrorist group forced me to join them in the first place"

"Will the terrorists be able to recognize you then?"

"Oh yeah, they'll know me instantly, which is why I'm going to have some insurance from the start"

"What sort of insurance?"

"Sorry, you're not getting anything else about my insurance, call my insurance a secret weapon if you like, but either way everyone needs to be careful because of the fact that terrorists hate cops on principle and me more than most"

The group heads out on the raid no one noticing that Clair's eyes had gone hazel on the way over to the location they were raiding

"We hit the location on my mark everyone, Kerenai-Masaki I hope your insurance is very good because I'm seeing a lot of weapons, and if you're the target you say you are they're going to primarily be going after you"

"Don't worry I have things under control in regards to my insurance"

The group does the raid and the SWAT captain manages to get close to Clair at one point and asks her a valid question

"Do you have any plans?"

"Nope, I've been through plans A-D already trying to break into the house and all my plans have failed so far, I have absolutely no idea what to do next, I was kind of hoping you would have an idea"

"Unfortunately the only idea I have is to temporarily retreat and think up a new raiding plan because this one isn't working too well, and if you've been through four plans already your ideas aren't working that well either"

"You win, retreat signal?"

"Retreat signal"

The group is given the retreat signal and they counted up their losses

"So why was the retreat signal given?"

"Because our plans aren't working, we need to regroup and make a new one"

"Oh and just how many plans did  _you_ go through Kerenai-Masaki?"

"Four, I made four different plans and they all failed, I am  _not_  making another plan without a new assessment of what is going on in that place, especially because the last plan cost us people and a tactical advantage"

"What tactical advantage?"

"You know how I was the primary target for the most part like I warned you?"

"What of it?"

"Turns out that until the last plan they were completely ignorant of military trained SWAT and police personnel until my dumb move, if I had been more careful the terrorists wouldn't have known about military training being involved, but because those officers on my orders used tactics and training specifically used in the military their cover was blown"

"Wait, back up, you made  _four_  different plans during the raid?"

"Yep, I am, for the most part, able to make quick, accurate, tactical judgments due to training from a young age, that training combined with a quick mind allows me to make plans within moments, now then I am not a genius by any means and there are others who are better at making tactical plans than I am but still I can quickly and easily make plans that benefit the group as a whole. Unfortunately like I said this time I goofed and gave up a good tactical advantage with the officers training being revealed, we could have used that advantage later depending on what plan we make now"

Clair said that last bit with a frown on her face and her hands crossing her chest looking down, obviously not happy about what had happened. The group starts making plans and then the person in charge gives out a frustrated groan


	35. Chapter 35

"Okay you win Masaki, the fact that some of the officers have military training being outed is making planning really hard right now, that was indeed a tactical error on your part"

"Told you so, now then what are you going to do about that since we've established that the officers being revealed wasn't such a good idea?"

"I have absolutely no clue"

"Well I finally have an idea, but you're going to hate it even worse than you hate the fact that the officer's training has been revealed, especially because it involves paperwork"

Suddenly though an officer came over and saluted Clair

"Lt. Kerenai-Masaki the equipment is finally ready for use"

"Wait you mean..."

"Yes, and since there are confirmed explosives the entire unit has permission for deployment"

"Hm...that might actually change things then in regards to having to have these officers sign particular paperwork at the moment"

"Okay what are you two going on about?"

"You know about the American branch of the Japanese Winspector unit, which is under the EDC?"

"Yeah"

"That only happened because I managed to pass the police academy, the rest of the unit and our suits are here and might get their first actual field testing if you allow it"

"Let me think about it because it's going to change plans if I do so"

Ultimately the suits were not allowed for the moment, but for a reason, the person in charge of the operation was actually given an ultimatum by the terrorist organization and they decided to use that to their advantage

"So they've given you the ultimatum of either surrender me to them or be destroyed in a full frontal assault"

"Yep"

"You know we could use this to our advantage, I mean we knew pretty fast that they recognized me as I warned but this ultimatum could help us instead of hurt us"

"You have a plan?"

"Maybe, how long do we have?"

"Two hours"

"Plenty of time then"

Clair smirks after saying that and while the police force didn't realize that Clair had a good plan they  _did_  know she had one, if any of the family were around they would realize that her plan was a good one, but the fact that they realized that a smirk was a plan was a good start for the police force

"Okay so first..."

Clair states her plan and soon they were ready for action

"Now remember, no matter what happens you stick to the plan, is that understood?"

"Perfectly"

"Good, then let's do it"

"Kerenai..."

"Don't worry I know what I'm doing"

Clair pretends to surrender and the rest of the officers  _slowly_  surround the building and succeed in the raid, but the new Winspector unit was activated because one of the terrorists managed to detonate some of the bombs and the explosions were causing massive damage

"Okay, now what?"

"Now it's Winspector's turn"

She goes to the truck and brings out a strange device and puts it in the side of the truck and then calls out a command that was new to the police but not to those who had been training for two months

"Armor on!"

Suddenly Clair was covered in white armor and using it as a fire extinguisher because it was equipped to do so, two others were also wearing similar armor, one was strangely orange and the other was black but either way they were very effective at protecting their wearers

"You guys take the ends of the building and we meet in the middle"

"Right"

And so they began working together as a team. Over the coming months the American branch of Winspector was trusted and soon the arrangement that was supposed to happen began, when the Japanese branch of Winspector was in America, the American branch was in Japan and vice-versa, except when the EDC ordered them to another country since Winspector  _was_  part of the EDC as per an agreement made years beforehand

"So if we're not in Japan we're here in America which is our home base and if we're not in America we're in Japan, that I get, but how come there are times neither Winspector unit is in Japan or America?"

"Because of an agreement made the year I was freed from the terrorist group I was part of for seven years, basically because we're also an EDC unit"

"Is that why we're currently in Venezuela?"

"Exactly why we're currently in Venezuela, there's some sort of EDC conference and for some reason both Winspector units are needed at the conference"

And so the conference began and then one unit based in Germany spoke up

"We're having trouble deciphering this code and decided to use this conference to see if anyone can recognize it, as it is we're having casualties on a regular basis because we can't crack the code"

The unit shows the multiple coded letters and Clair alone recognizes what's going on and abruptly leaves after a very brief and quiet word to her unit

"I know the code, and it's not something one can easily recognize, mainly because it's not a code at all, it's a challenge declaration, the terrorist group knows that someone who was part of their life is now in the EDC, if I'm not heard from in forty-eight hours alert the rest of the EDC to what's going on and do a complete search for me leaving no stone un turned in any country, understood?"

"Perfectly, are we allowed to let them know it was a challenge when we alert them to you needing to be looked for?"

"Yes, include the fact that it's only known if you were part of terrorists for a long period of time like I was"

"The Japanese branch? I want to know since they aren't here themselves"

"You can let them know immediately, I know why they aren't here at the moment and it's a good reason"

"Understood"

Clair leaves without anyone noticing and later that day the American branch does indeed tell the Japanese branch about how Clair had gone to meet the challenge that had been made to the German EDC force, all of this was done speaking in Japanese so as to keep the conversation as private as possible

*Understood, in the meantime there are some family members I need to see and talk to about something going on in Japan that won't affect anyone but Clair and Daichi and even then Clair won't be as severely affect as her brother is*

*Got it, we'll hold the fort until then*

Meanwhile with Clair she had gone to the specified location on the challenge and also at the specified time

"I'm here!"

"Clair Kerenai-Masaki, so you're the one who turned traitor"

"That's been known"

"True, except what hasn't been known is the fact that you're actually a cop now, everyone thought you would return at some point but I guess not"

"I would have never joined in the first place if my family wasn't in danger"

"Well either way you're going to regret betraying us a second time, you can go full out in the fights if you want to, it won't change anything if you did"

"You really want me to go all out?"

"Yes we do"

"You asked for it"

At hearing the confirmation that they wanted her at her full strength her eyes go hazel and she unleashes the powers she was born with using all her tactics to make sure that they didn't get near her or hurt her with any weapons, eventually though they revealed something since she had started to notice an unusual pattern that was just on the edge of her recognizing it, but she failed

"That's nothing, we know about your abilities, which is why we prepared for such"

"Except for one thing, I've been studying your patterns and have realized you're going off of old data, time for me to break the seal"

"Seal?"

"Yes, a seal, a seal that has kept people safe for several years now, though I wish this power wasn't needed"

Clair mentally broke the seal of an attack that was devastating in regards to how destructive it was, there was also the slight risk of her killing herself with the attack, but Clair had known the risks from the start and had decided the benefits outweighed the risks, especially since the area surrounding their conflict was void of any life, she had made sure of that from the start, both human and animal lives were not at risk from her powers which is the way she wanted it to be from the start

"Full Arranyan power detonation"

Clair's powers exploded out from her destroying the building and taking out the terrorists near her, the area at her exact spot was untouched due to being ground zero and Clair herself was down on the ground not moving and if anyone was there at the time they would be wondering if she was even breathing. Also due to the remote location no one was aware of the explosion because otherwise Clair's orders would not have been followed, however if that  _had_  been the case she would have allowed Winspector to explain everything sooner than forty-eight hours because it would have been needed and she would have understood that answers were more important than her initial orders to keep things under wraps for so long. Back at the conference others were starting to wonder about Clair's location and all Winspector said was that she had something personal to take care of and should be back within forty-eight hours, all of them knowing that if that wasn't the case they would reveal that what the German EDC was having trouble with was a challenge declaration that only those that were part of a terrorist organization long enough would recognize and that Clair had gone to meet the challenge in order to save more lives


	36. Chapter 36

"Are you sure she'll be back in forty-eight hours?"

"Not...completely, but even if she's not back at the conference she gave her word that we'll hear from her within forty-eight hours, and she's never broken a promise yet"

"Really?"

"Yes, we may not have known her as long as others, but they will contest to the fact that when she says she'll do something she does it, even if it takes a little longer depending on what it is she'll get it done somehow"

Soon enough though the forty-eight hours end and there was no word from Clair and as such Winspector revealed the truth to the EDC and since the location was in Germany it was decided that German EDC officers would be the ones to check the area and see if Clair was there and see if she was alive since that was also a concern due to her having not been heard from in the specified time limit

"Okay then, if she needs medical care make sure she has a high energy drip just in case she's dehydrated and exhausted from using her powers"

"Understood, we'll make sure that medical is standing by with the high energy drip, good thing that was made a requirement a while back"

"Agreed"

The group goes to the location and discovers Clair still down

"Captain I found her...but...I don't think she's alive"

"For now just get down to her, we'll follow behind with our limited medical supplies"

"Right"

The officer gets down to Clair and  _gently_  turns her over and then checks for a pulse and surprisingly find one, very slow and her breathing wasn't much better but she  _was_  alive

"Get down here! I have a pulse and she's also breathing on her own, both are very slow though"

The group gets down the crater as quickly as they safely could and then does what little emergency care they could provide realizing that Clair needed the high energy drip they were warned was a possibility and as such they got her to the EDC base as quickly as was safely possible keeping a close eye on her vitals in case something went wrong and she started to deteriorate. At the EDC hospital she is immediately put on the high energy drip and the doctors also do a few other medial things and then state that all they could do was wait and hope Clair pulled through after almost thirty-six hours without medical care

"Isn't there anything else you can do?"

"No there isn't, like we said all we can do is wait and hope she lasts the night, we're currently taking it hour by hour, eventually hoping to take it day by day, but for now her condition is too critical to take it anything but hour by hour"

"We need to inform her family about this"

"Haven't they been told she's been found?"

"No, but that's only because they knew where she was, however we were waiting on you to see if we were going to have to tell them that she's dead or not"

"I don't envy you that conversation I don't think depending on how protective her family is even though she's been safe for about six almost seven years now"

"It's not going to be the greatest, but it won't be too terrible, at least I don't think it will be"

As it would turn out the call wasn't bad at all, yes the family wished that they had been called sooner but they understood waiting until it was known if Clair was alive or not, especially because of the fact that there was a possibility of her dying en route to the hospital or even in possible surgery while they were headed over there if she had been found alive in the first place. As such as soon as the call was made Masaki went to the hospital with Lazerbeak and Rumble since the other cassettes were simply not available at the moment and none of the other Cybertronians were small enough to fit on a plane

"So this is going to be a long flight"

Masaki though deliberately spoke in Japanese

*Be glad we have international passports as EDC officers, by the way we need to talk about something important in regards to our daughter*

*Oh?*

*Is it just me or has she been hiding something from us since I first came back from an apparent death right after she had joined the police station she currently works at?*

*You're right she is hiding something, but what it could be I have no clue and you know full well that she won't reveal anything until she's ready*

*I know, it's annoying when she does that, but I know all too well what she's like*

*For now we're going to have to help her recover, I don't think the doctor's realize just how fast she can recover, or what's actually needed for recovery*

*The phone call did mention she's already on a high energy drip, that's a good thing, the bad part is the fact that she needed surgery and they're taking it hour by hour for the moment*

*Well it's a start at least, unfortunately they don't know the full extent of what she needs after something like this happens, mainly because it's so very rare for her to actually do this*

Eventually they arrive at the hospital and are told by the EDC officer there (the group that found her had agreed to take shifts on keeping an eye both on Clair and for Clair's family to show up) that as far as they were aware there had been no change in her status since the call had been made almost eleven hours earlier

"Understood officer, we have watch now, we'll wait until she's seen by the doctor to ask for more clarification on her condition and we need to talk to them anyways about something that is involved in her health and condition that they need to know"

"Should be here in about a half hour or so"

"Right, get some sleep"

Exactly a half hour later the doctor came by to check on Clair and noticed her new visitors

"Excuse me, I'm afraid visiting hours are over for the day, and unless the patient is underage or there's another reason no one is allowed to stay with them"

"We're part of the EDC and we're also Clair's family members, doctor I have more information about Clair's condition because unfortunately even with the high energy drip you have going it's not going to be able to do much on waking her up, not after what was described to us over the phone and what we saw in pictures in the report we received on the way over here"

"How did you guys receive a report in the air?"

"Special computers which allowed us access to an electronic report, complete with pictures"

"Okay if you have information that we haven't been made aware of then I would like to know to better treat my patient"

"Gladly"

And so Masaki informs the doctors about how her powers were connected to her immune system and that since finding out that the drugs had affected her powers and thus made her eyes turn hazel it had been discovered that if she used her powers to the point she was currently at she needed an immune system boost of some sort or she would never recover completely if at all

"So is there anything I can do?"

"Yes, we've created a new drip for her and we're giving you the formula and want you to pass it on to the hospitals in Europe, we've already gotten other hospitals for other areas because while it's going to be rare there  _is_  a possibility of her being in another country besides the United States or Japan"

"Why did it take so long to develop?"

"Her powers are...complicated, thus it takes time to develop something for her health sometimes, other times it's either already developed or very easy to develop based on treatments already created"

"Fine, I'll get the new drip started immediately, wait, how long will it take to synthesize more?"

"About a half hour to an hour"

"Okay, in the meantime I guess you're taking up guard duties?"

"Yep, even though she's my daughter I can take care of her by protecting her from harm while she's unconscious and defenseless"

The doctor gave Clair her new drip and would change it regularly, fifteen hours later Clair was awake and while she wasn't cleared to leave the hospital yet, she was eating normally and showing signs of being ready to leave within the next day or two depending on what tests the doctors wanted to do

"Clair once you're discharged we need to have a little talk about what you did that day"

"Leaving without telling anyone the reason why?"

"Nope, though some might demand answers I know why you did what you did in that regards, no what we need to talk about requires clearances and non public places"

"Oh...that conversation"

"Exactly that conversation"

"Will the others also be there?"

"That depends on if they've been told or not, for now only the three of us know about this since we were only given information on your condition beyond you being alive once we were here in person"

"Fine then, we'll talk after I get out of the hospital in a more secure setting, but for the record I don't regret any decisions I made"

"Duly noted"

Three days later Clair was still in the hospital though because the night after Masaki and Clair agreed to talk upon her release she took a sudden downturn to the point that she needed to be sedated and put on a ventilator to help her breath

_That night_

"What's wrong with her?"

"We're not sure at the moment, she was doing well, we were discussing discharging her in the morning after breakfast, but this sudden problem means she's going to be in the hospital for much longer than she probably would have wanted"

"Besides what you're already doing is there anything to be done?"

"No we have to wait this situation out"

"Understood"

_Present_

"How long has it been?"

"Three days"

"Any answers or improvements?"

"No improvements but we finally have answers, she has a combination of mononucleosis and pneumonia"

"Well at least her brother is healthy again"

"Brother?"

"Adopted brother, for a while he had to deal with Lyme disease and Malaria at the same time, but again like I said he's healthy again, but now she's pretty sick"

"But it's treatable, it's just going to take her longer to recover is all"

"Okay then"

"Hey, remember when that one group discovered to their detriment about her excellent emotional control?"

"Yes I remember, it was a similar situation too wasn't it?"

"Not quite, but the setting was the same"

"Gave us time to do what we needed to do at least"

"And they were hating that they couldn't call her bluff"

"Yeah, they're still cursing her emotional control last I heard whenever they hear her name"

"But still, I wouldn't want to gain her emotional control the way she did"

"Agreed, that was a dangerous way for her to gain that control"

The group goes silent and then when Masaki finally speaks up again he deliberately switches to Japanese for security reasons, now Clair could have done the same thing for her conversation but both knew that it was better to wait until they got to a secure setting since there was a chance of her slipping back into English in her condition

*I know that Clair got the terrorists as far as the group that found her is aware but has that been confirmed?*

*Unknown, we can ask her actual unit since they arrived after her condition deteriorated*

*Would they have checked though?*

*Yes I made sure they did since I knew we would be too distracted*

*She's their leader though*

*And yet they have a separation that we don't, we consider Clair our daughter, more so with the Primes and Galvatron, but all of us care for her as though she were ours and of course through adoption legally she's also yours*

*By the way has Daichi chosen his style yet?*

*Yes, he has chosen Aikido*

*Interesting choice considering his sister*

*He said that he wanted to protect himself in his own way, and he doesn't feel active fighting fits him, he'd rather be more on the defensive than on the offense, he gets that for Clair she has to be more offensive, but for him he wants to defend instead of attack, basically use the attackers own strength against them*

*In a way that makes sense due to the fact that Clair's fighting style is...not normal*

*Agreed, she combined five different styles into one, including his own style*

*Would have thought he would choose something different from one of her styles*

*It's his choice, and again it's more defensive than offensive*

*By the way, I wonder when the doctor will tell us if there's any improvement in the blood work*

*Good point, but for now...for now I need to go to the cafeteria and get some food*

*Masaki...*

*Yes?*

*When was the last time you actually slept in a bed and had food that wasn't from the hospital cafeteria?*

*Um...since I got here*

There was a definite growl this time in the voice

*Masaki...*

*Sorry, I've just been wanting to be here for any updates that it's slipped my mind*

*Okay that's it, I'm kicking you out for a few hours at least, you are to go to the EDC base, eat, shower and get decent sleep in an actual bed if possible*

*But Rumble...*

*No Masaki, you know full well what would happen if Ratchet or First-Aid found out about this to say nothing of the Primes and Galvatron, or did you forget the clan mark?*

That stops Masaki cold knowing that it basically meant that Rumble was about to pull family rank on him or get one of the commanding officers to do so if he didn't stop arguing against ruining his own health with worry

*Fine, at least I know she'll be with family if she wakes up*

Masaki leaves to call a cab and as soon as he left the room Rumble takes his place and alerts the base that Masaki was coming back and that from now on a family member had to be present at all times around Clair, because after Masaki mentioned that with Rumble there she was with family if she woke up he realized that Masaki had pushed himself to the limit just so that Clair wouldn't be alone when she woke up, even if she was with a nurse or doctor doing their routine check up. An hour later Clair did indeed wake up and Rumble was there to keep her calm by speaking in Cybertronian, because way back when she was first free from the terrorist group and was getting used to living with Masaki, they had learned that she responded best to her native languages or to Japanese and that had become their go to tactic when bringing Clair out of a flashback before resorting to the code phrase

*Easy Clair, the doctors are on their way, you're in the hospital and I'm here with you so don't worry your family and unit understood immediately and we can deal with everyone else once you're better*

Clair was checked out and said that there might be a chance of her being released soon and 48 hours later the doctor was true to his word and she was being released from the hospital, but was warned she needed to take it easy for at least a month if not more once fit for duty again, though she was only informed of that after being checked out again by an EDC doctor before leaving for America, just to make sure that the main hospital didn't miss anything accidentally

"So desk duty until told otherwise"

"Basically, and that's with both your regular police work and the EDC"

"Well, if that's the case I have a request for you Captain Faireborn"

"What's the request?"

"I wish to do a month long training session with my Winspector unit"

"Clair..."

"It's so that if we ever have to use our secondary identification we already know how to act and make sure we're not easily discovered"

"Very well I will allow that training to happen, but only if the police station you're working at allows it as well, if they don't then I will deny your request with no hesitation"

"Understood, by the way where's my knife?"

"Um..."

"Dad? Rumble?"

"You destroyed it, how did that happen in the first place? I'm wondering since we made that blade power proof"

"That's complicated, look we already talked about why I used such a dangerous attack right?"

"Yes, you mentioned you had no other choice"

"Well before that happened, unfortunately I was pushed to using my actual knife so that I wouldn't push myself to the limit physically because while my powers no longer truly drain me I was being forced to move around a lot since they managed to do something to counteract my abilities, as such I went with my knife and actually changed it into a sword for a bit until an attack knocked the weapon out of my hand, shortly before I used my ultimate attack the enemy managed to use acid in the general area of where I lost my weapon, that must have been what destroyed it because you may have made that weapon with Cybertronian alloys but you also used human alloys and that affects things greatly and apparently makes the weapon susceptible to acid and explosions"

"Okay that will have to be something to work on when we replace it, by the way Clair there's something we've been wondering for a while now, but haven't had the courage to ask about sooner, though we should have"

"What is it?"

"Well, according to reports you've given us Winspector wasn't the first group you almost had freedom with, there was another group that said they were close to bringing you in but you ultimately escaped the what I'm wondering is why you initially went to them in the first place"

"Okay you have to understand something, I had been with that group for seven years at that point, which as you know resulted in PTSD, which mainly involves getting a bad night's sleep sometimes, but there are times I have triggers during the day, but anyhow back to the main story, I was with the terrorists for seven years by that point and my nerves were  _shot_ , as it is if I hadn't been so ill and confined to the hospital initially I would probably have acted almost as bad as the report you guys got, mainly because I was  _tired_ by that point, I knew by the time I gave the message to Winspector that I wouldn't last much longer with the group, I think if the incident hadn't happened I would have turned myself in willingly within the next week or so I was that tired"

"Why exactly were your nerves shot?"

"Okay think about it, I was hiding my true allegiance for seven years, I had actively been planning on how to slow them down for two and actually doing things to bring them down for the past month or so, it's part of why missions had been slowed down, that and the whole Winspector thing"

"Well for now you're cleared to go back to America tomorrow, not until then, mainly because of the fact that while we  _could_  get you a flight out later today I want you to have another day in the country just relaxing and enjoying the sights, even if it's just for the day"

"Basically you want me to have a tourist day"

"Exactly"

And so Clair had a day to just be a tourist in Germany but suddenly Masaki noticed that Clair was a little melancholic

*What's wrong Clair?*

*I miss them, even though I never really knew them I still miss them*

*And that's perfectly normal Clair, you're imagining what a vacation with your birth family would be like and we, your adoptive families understand that*

*Thanks dad*

*Clair, we knew from the beginning that you would miss your true family at times, even without knowing them, the complicated part was when Masaki joined in the care process because you  _couldn't_ be with your first adoptive family, we knew when we realized you considered Masaki family that you would feel like you let both adoptive families down at times when missing your birth family, but we discussed that one day while you were in school and agreed that we were fine with it, that all we would and could do was assure you that missing your birth parents, and the uncle who gave you up for a life of stability, was perfectly normal and okay to do*

*Thanks...for understanding*

Clair would be fine the rest of the day and the next she got on a plane to the United States knowing that it would be back to work soon enough, but also hoping her month long training would be approved

"Hey Captain, here's the note from the German EDC doctor saying I can't work for a month at least due to my illness, and I was wondering if my training request was approved"

"Thanks for the note first of all, and for the second it's been partially approved, you yourself have the whole month doing whatever the special training is as long as you don't physically exert yourself, but your team is on call at a moments notice, that comes from the Chief by the way"

"I can accept that, and I'm sure the rest of the team will accept that as well because it really does make sense that they have to be on call still since we  _are_  the only rescue unit available since the Japanese branch is back in their home country, by the way how have things been going with the switching back and forth, even though it's really only been done once as far as I'm aware of?"

"It was okay, the Japanese branch did occasionally slip into Japanese unintentionally but with that being their native language we understood and gave them time to explain in English since some of the time they simply forgot the English word for something for a moment and ultimately had to revert to the Japanese word until it could translate to English in their mind, and then there were times when we were sure they were deliberately speaking Japanese, but again that was understandable"

"Oh?"

"Yep, because they had always just received something from the EDC right beforehand, and while we're technically a safe stop for the EDC we're not actually part of the EDC and as such don't have high clearances regarding EDC issues"

"Yeah, my team and I will also do that on occasion, it's why I insisted on them being fluent in Japanese, besides the fact that I myself will occasionally slip into Japanese having lived there for five years"

"Yeah, I remember a very clear incident when you slipped into Japanese"

"That incident...yeah that was a bit of a mistake"

"On who's front though? I know for a fact that you clearly informed us about your PTSD, as it is I'm amazed you can work in this environment without being set off frequently"

"Part of that is getting therapy immediately after I was freed from that group, the other part is knowing my triggers and understanding that this job might expose me to them and as such I am mentally prepared for triggers to happen, though it doesn't hurt that I have a therapist on call if things get bad"

"Are you their only patient?"

"No, however while they have various people they see they actually specialize in PTSD patients and as such is able to make emergency sessions happen at a moments notice, and sometimes those of us with PTSD will have group sessions with our therapist so that we remember that we're not alone in our struggle with PTSD, even if the causes are all different and our symptoms are different, we're all struggling with the same issue"

"Well for now your team is waiting in your headquarters so best go to them"

"Right"

Clair goes to their headquarters and explains that they were going to be doing special training for the next month


	37. Chapter 37

"What are we going to do? I know for a fact that you're limited on training"

"That's why we're not doing physical training, we're going to be doing undercover training instead"

"But Clair you're not allowed to do undercover work, except as a contact between the police station and undercover officers"

"True, however just like you guys I was given a second identity in case I had to hide, I want us established in our second identities"

"But you already have a second personality"

"No, not for this identity, it's too dangerous, I have habits that could get me killed if caught, I need to not use them so much, you might notice I unconsciously go for the locket at times, I can't do that except under extreme stress because that's a stress response due to having to make sure I had it on me at all times during those seven years, it's what grounds me in the present"

"Okay so we have a month to establish a second identity?"

"Yes, with the given identity that the government gave you when you joined this station"

"Will we be testing our fellow officers?"

"Yes, eventually but not right now, right now we simply need to focus on establishing the do's and dont's of our second identity, that means what will we do and what won't we do when we have to become this second person for long periods of time at need"

"So basically this is going to be an ongoing process until we have things down pat"

"Yes, and if you haven't already you should start a bank account in your second identity, you don't need to establish a second living space right now, but I  _do_  need you to have a second bank account"

"Wait, the Captain didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"As soon as we join the station we have a second bank account, that's where part of our paychecks go every month"

"Oh...probably didn't realize that with me already having three different bank accounts"

"Three?"

"Hey, you try living with a terrorist group for seven years and not have a secret account so that you can survive once separated from the group, my thought process was that I would either be behind bars or be hiding from the law until the truth was revealed and that meant making sure I had money saved away in an account no one knew of"

"Okay that makes sense"

"Indeed it does, the other accounts are a savings account I created after I was free and then my primary account under my legal name"

"Well due to having an account already under our second name we can rent a small apartment, it can be our bolt hole at need"

"You mean a place to hide out in an emergency temporarily"

"Exactly, and it means you can rent a place as well"

"True" (thinks) " _they don't need to know yet about the plans for going literally underground if it's needed, due to the money I have through family and other odd jobs I can actually afford a house, but I will instead use that to build an underground city essentially. I know that this will take time but I want a place that is safe for us officers and for civilians if it gets too dangerous above ground_ "

The Winspector team alerts their Japanese counterparts about the training they were going to undertake and Clair speaks with her family specifically to let them know that she would remain as safe as possible, but that she couldn't call them for a month and that they couldn't call her during that same time period

*Daichi, this is just for a month and to make sure I remain safe if I suddenly have to go into hiding for my and your safety, this is just a training situation and not real, we will develop codes for when it  _is_  the real thing so that you yourselves can take the appropriate actions, now then can I talk to dad for a moment? I need to talk to him about something*

Daichi hands the phone over to Masaki who goes to a private area of the house and switches to English, which Daichi was learning real fast

"What is it Clair?"

"Dad, I need you to look after some people who will be arriving in Japan soon, I can't explain why they are there or what they are going to be doing except to tell you that it's under my orders, and dad whatever you do, until told otherwise make sure that they are not interrupted for any reason except for dangers to their lives, I know this doesn't make sense right now, but eventually it will, and I was telling Daichi the truth when I said that we will be developing codes for when I do have to go into hiding for whatever reason, it's for your own safety"

"What about your Cybertronian family?"

"They already have codes with me and know that if I give them a code they need to obey what it means since if I'm the one giving the code it's serious"

"Understood"

"Dad, one more thing, I left specific instructions with the Captain if I don't report in after a month like I should, however I'm afraid he won't completely understand those instructions, which is why I addressed the video to both you and him since you have the background that he doesn't, I know this will seriously interrupt the schedule you have with Daichi but I need you in America to help the Captain understand the instructions given to him should he call you, which is part of his instructions given to him by the police Chief"

"Don't worry, I can make temporary arrangements if needed that will turn into more permanent ones at need"

"Just making sure that you're ready at a moments notice"

"Okay, is there anything else I need to know about?"

"Um...no"

However due to the fact that Clair said this slowly he knew she was lying and called her out on it with his tone of voice

"Clair..."

"Look even though you're family it doesn't affect you right now and there's a chance it never will which is why I am hesitant on saying anything, don't worry you'll be the first to know if it does ultimately affect you guys"

"Fine I better be"

What Masaki didn't realize was that Clair was hesitant on mentioning possible special drills for all EDC officers and their family's, however since that was still being debated she didn't want to say anything in case the drills never happened and especially because those drills would affect her family the most being connected to the Cybertronians which Daichi still wasn't even aware of with the agreement of Clair and Masaki who had realized that the rules that Clair laid down while he was thought dead were good rules, but they were going to have to be modified a bit because with the way Clair was acting he knew that Daichi might have to be introduced to the special family members sooner than what Clair wanted in order to keep him safe. Clair ended the call and then passed the phone to the others since she realized that they too would need to reassure their family's that they were okay

"Now listen up, we do not meet except by accident for the entire month unless you guys get an emergency call in, we do not act familiar with each other if we do meet during that month, and under absolutely no circumstances are you to reveal yourselves as EDC/police officers during that month except during emergency call in's"

"But Clair..."

"No Adam I won't allow it, it's too dangerous and that means getting rid of police habits if at all possible"

"How, how is it too dangerous?"

"If we legitimately need to use these ID's and you have police habits the group or groups after us would know in an instant and kill you, but only after torturing you to find out about the rest of the officers and any potential family"

"Oh really?"

"Adam, you know my background, you know I am telling you the truth"

Suddenly though they hear Adam speaking but no lips moving

"Except for one problem, that person isn't me, in fact I haven't even been in this office for three days"

Clair and the other officer look at the door and see...Adam

"Wait...two Adams?"

"Not quite, and no you aren't seeing a twin since I am an only child, no this was a deliberate test by the Chief to see if you could spot this undercover officer"

"Why test us like this?"

"Because the main test wasn't for you two, it was for the officer, he's about to go undercover in a very dangerous assignment that means little to no contact with the outside world, however he is also going undercover for the first time ever and as such needed a field test to see if he could get past you Kerenai-Masaki without any problems since you are a very observant person by force"

"I see, so basically if he couldn't get past me he wouldn't be able to go on his mission"

"Pretty much, but the Chief was concerned when he heard about your training plans"

"Plans that unfortunately are needed"

"He knows that and understands, by the way this officer has been passing on the orders to me through the Chief, good thing you used actual envelopes because that meant no one could access them without knowledge of the proper recipient, he kept confidentiality too since his security clearance is temporarily upgraded so that he can actually report to the EDC at need so that we know he's still alive"

"Backup system?"

"Backup system"

"Do they know?"

"We were ordered to do this when the station became what it was and I do legit mean ordered, and reprimanded once for  _not_  obeying orders"

"Oh?"

"Yes, Captain Faireborn was the one who gave us the orders in the first place, she was in her official EDC uniform and we were given orders on official paper, when those orders were disobeyed I was requested to come to headquarters, and I got reprimanded by the actual EDC leaders, and I don't mean high ranking officials, I mean the ones who created the EDC in the first place, the Cybertronian commanding officers"

"Is this part of the temporary clearance?"

"Yes, just in case"

"Okay just making sure, so how bad was the reprimand?"

"Have you ever been yelled at for being stupid? And then on top of that partially in a language you have no idea what they're saying?"

"That bad huh?"

"That bad"

"Could have been worse"

"How could things have been worse for the Chief?"

"Actually understanding the full conversation"

"Oh...forgot about that, you were yelled at when you came back weren't you?"

"Oh yeah, and I understood the full conversation, okay yes they understood why I did what I did six almost seven years ago but still they weren't too happy with me"

"By the way there's a rumor out that you didn't properly complete high school, someone looked you up and the high school you attended doesn't have a diploma for you, now then this was an unauthorized look and I of course know the truth but do you want others to know about your education?"

(Sighs) "I was wondering when that would happen, if someone asks then yes they can know the full truth about my education experience and how I got my GED early on and really only attended high school for socializing, the reason why my GED isn't always easily found is because I got it in Japan and I switched between Japan and America for four years as you well know, they can know about the GED, and how I went back and forth between the Japanese school system and the American school system but not the reason why I did both, they don't need to know about how I lived with Winspector during those four years, we can just explain that as the family was required to go back and forth between the two countries and as such so did I"

"Works for me, oh I received a message from the EDC recently, but I can't read it, can you?"

Clair is given the message and face palms

"Sorry Chief, all EDC officers around the world are required to be fluent in English for a reason, unfortunately they do sometimes slip and write in their native language and then forget to translate it into English, this is Korean and yes I can translate it easily for you"

"Good"

"Then I should have this done in five minutes, after that us Winspector officers have a month of training to do and your undercover needs to go on his assignment as well"

As soon as Clair starts translating though she realizes why it was never translated back into English, the officer that wrote this was in such a rush they automatically wrote in their native language and then made sure it got out ASAP forgetting about the fact that it was written in Korean and as such needed translated back into English and didn't make sure that it was done before being given to the police Chief

"Chief, there's a problem which means it's even more important that Winspector does this training now instead of later"

"What's the problem?"

Clair looks at the undercover officer though who gets the message and immediately leaves

"Korea is having potential problems with a terrorist group and an uprising against the government, this is a warning for you to be ready to lose EDC support though they're hoping that other EDC bases closer to them will be able to handle the problem"

"Like the Japanese unit who was here and then was sent to China?"

"That was more because of their specialization and the fact that they would technically be closer if they had been in Japan at the time than anything else"

"Okay why does this mean the training is even more important now?"

"If something goes wrong my unit has to be one of the first ones to go into hiding and doing it in plain sight, the  _reason_  is because of the fact that no one else at the station are actual EDC officers, though this is a temporary safe house used by the EDC it's still a police station at the end of the day where criminals are brought, but us as actual EDC officers means we're going to be the primary target of any terrorist that comes here, and I make it even more dangerous because of my background"

"Speaking of which I got a call shortly before the conference you went to, something about you potentially needing emergency time off because of your PTSD"

"Yeah...I've been struggling with sleep lately and my therapist was talking about me taking time off and doing a special retreat specifically tailored to those who have PTSD that allows them to get some actual sleep without medication and also meet others not part of your particular circle and possibly learn new coping methods, however with this being needed I can't afford to do that retreat right now"

"What I'm wondering is what are your particular issues right now with the PTSD?"

"Mostly I keep reliving the seven years with the group, and occasionally my mind goes into a what if scenario of where I am still with the group to this day, that I failed to get out and am still being a terrorist even though I never really wanted to be in the first place"

"Basically it's one of your common symptoms that was explained to me while you were at the academy by an evaluator shortly after you physically started attending"

"Yes, if needed I will use special EDC drugs, but I hope I don't have to"

"What special EDC drugs?"

"Sedatives, special sedatives that allow us to sleep safely and wake up quickly if it's needed, the military has used them for several years before I was even born"

"Well for now like you said you had training to attend to so I'll let you guys get to that"

"Thanks, we'll let you know that we're safe, but our actual station can't know until the month is over, at least except by accident which I hope doesn't happen"

"Wait, aren't you going to test the station?"

"No not yet, I can't have that until we're a bit more stable in our second identities"

"But Clair..."

"Chief, do you really want a code delta 49 or omega 68?"

(Sighs) "OK you know I don't and you're right those could happen, but Clair Elisa Kerenai-Masaki if I find out that officers are endangered because of no tests from the start I am alerting the station to what you are doing immediately  _and_  suspending any and all Winspector training that doesn't involve the rest of the station indefinitely am I understood?"

"Perfectly"

"Clair one more thing, I think you need to hide the tattoo I know you have"

(Sighs) "I can't Chief, my ways of disguising marks are too good and you know full well that tattoo is an identification symbol for dad and I, and eventually Daichi"

"Fine, but make sure it's not visible easily"

"Don't worry I know what to do"

"Okay, now get out of here and hide yourselves"

"Wait Daichi?"

"My adoptive younger brother, it's been decided that family can get the tattoo at either eighteen or twenty depending on which country you live in and when you feel you want the tattoo"

"What about marriage and kids?"

"Spouses and kids also will get the clan tattoo"

"Are you even looking for someone?"

"Yes and no, I do want to find someone but at the same time I need to know that I can trust them with my very life, and the life of my team"

"Well we're gone"

"Right"


	38. Chapter 38

And so the month long training began and it actually went very well in Clair's mind, she checked to see that the underground city in both countries were started and then found out that her contractors were actually special contractors who worked solely with either the government or the EDC and as such knew how to get work done fast and without talking, as such they were further along then she thought they would be. Clair had thought that the underground city would not even be started for another three to six months with the fact that everything had to be dug and shored up for building, with it taking at least another two or more years to actually build, instead during that month the group had succeeded in digging everything correctly and were already started on pouring concrete in both countries, with Japan actually just slightly further ahead due to the fact that the location she had chosen actually already had the start of underground facilities since it was originally meant as a bomb shelter for the government, though Clair wasn't aware of that. While making sure the underground cities were going well she herself tested her "disguise" and started developing how her second identity would act, and finally unsealed a part of herself that she had kept hidden for a long, long time. By now her true personality of being a caring person in regards to Earth and not so nice if you were trying to hurt people, but she wouldn't physically hurt anyone, had come into fruition but she had still kept a part of her true self hidden because what no one knew was that she was also childlike in many ways, playful and a bit of a trickster and that was what she decided to be in her second personality, serious when called for but playing harmless pranks whenever possible. Part of why she developed that personality was  _because_  she had been forced to be serious and grow up fast in the terrorist group and now she could relax and have fun like a kid, but she always thought about safety first having spent the first ten years as an EDC kid raised by the Cybertronians

"So Sarah why do you enjoy playing pranks so much?"

"Not entirely sure, probably because I didn't really get a chance to be a kid when I was younger and now I'm letting that part of myself out"

"Why couldn't you be a kid?"

"Mostly family life, when you're moving around a lot because of your parents jobs you don't really get to make friends like most kids and that's coming out as harmless pranks now that I can try and make friends"

During that month she also worked hard on breaking the habit of making sure she had her locket on a regular basis and also worked on not being triggered so easily in regards to her PTSD, but that half wasn't going so well, but it wasn't as severe as before and in all honesty she had been working on her triggers regularly with being a police officer, but there were also warnings for her triggers, she was working on no warnings which was much harder

"So still looking for a job?"

"Yes and no, I am trying to find a place to do volunteer work but a primary job isn't in my future right now for reasons that I want to keep to myself for the moment"

"Okay your choice, but if you want I can talk to my boss about giving you a part time job"

"Not right now, maybe in the future but not right now"

"Okay, so we'll meet up tomorrow?"

"That's...stay here!"

"Sarah" suddenly ran out and when her "friend" (they really were still getting to know each other so they weren't real friends yet but rather good acquaintances) looked out she saw that "Sarah" was running towards the scene of an accident, as such she called 9-1-1 and mentioned that "Sarah" was helping until fire and other personnel could arrive, meanwhile Clair had gone into police mode silently thanking herself that she kept her real identity and her police credentials on her at all times since it was just a training period. If it had been real she would have kept those credentials hidden in a secure location not to be revealed unless it was absolutely needed, but since it was training she kept the credentials on her for a reason, as it was she needed them because police arrived on scene in three minutes due to how the patrol was working, fire and ambulance were another five minutes if things went well

"Miss you need to let us work"

"No  _you_ need to let me continue my job"

With that Clair brings out her real identity and police credentials which means that the officers let her continue working, which meant starting on crowd control, but since they didn't have actual spare uniforms they insisted on her wearing a vest to identify her as part of the police until a proper barrier could be set up at need

"By the way why haven't you been seen for a month?"

"I'll explain at the station, mainly due to the fact that this was the last day anyways"

Clair heads back to the station once the accident was cleared and the patients taken to the hospital, and the other two Winspector members were also there having actually been at the accident scene themselves and realizing that with Clair needing to be a police officer again due to instincts they should just come in at the same time

"So what was this all about anyways?"

"Training, I was making sure that my unit and I are able to use our secondary identities at a moments notice, don't worry any further training in that regard will have everyone properly informed, especially because we will be testing you guys on occasion to see if you can identify us at random"

"Okay, oh by the way Masaki, we need you in interrogation room one since you're the linguist"

"What happened to getting a translator?"

"Uh we would if we recognized what language it was, with you being able to recognize a language after only a few days if not actually able to translate it you should be able to identify it for us hopefully so that we can get a proper translator"

"Okay why didn't you use the translators I made?"

"Those are broken for some reason and we haven't gotten replacements yet"

"Okay that makes sense then"

Clair goes into the interrogation room and sees a clearly agitated person and they were speaking rapidly but fortunately Clair does indeed manage to recognize the language they were speaking

"You need a translator for Croatian guys"

"Okay thanks for telling us"

Suddenly though Clair sees a flash of movement and decides to pay closer attention to the body language and sees the movement again and recognizes what's going on

"And guys, better make sure they have EDC level clearance"

"What for?"

"He's a police officer, who's been undercover for a long time from what I can tell"

"Why does that need EDC level clearance?"

"Because depending on his undercover mission the EDC may have been involved and even if they weren't there's still a chance that what's discovered through translators will mean that it's simply best to have that level of clearance there so that police secrets or issues aren't discovered outside of those that understand the need to keep things of that level quiet"

Clair leaves the room after using hand signs to calm the officer down slightly, to let him know that he was safe and in the United States in a police station

"What I'm wondering is how you realized that he was an undercover officer"

"There are certain hand signals that I recognized that were taught to me from a young age, you wouldn't know it because of the fact that not all officers are taught the signs, only those that are potentially going to do undercover work are taught those signs and even then you have to be at a certain level or doing certain missions to be taught the signs, I of course was taught for other reasons Captain"

"Did he even realize where he was and what he was doing?"

"Not entirely, we're going to have to wait for the translator, but remember how I gave him hand signals to calm him down and he answered back?"

"Yes what of it?"

"He told me he didn't realize he was in America due to how he was found in a drugged haze, but he was hoping that someone would recognize the hand signs and dig further to identify him and let his people know he was safe, it's not sign language per se but specific hand movements that all undercover officers trained in those hand signs recognize, it's quick and dirty communication but effective if in the right location"

"How you got all that I have no clue, but I believe you"

"Okay, when will the translator be here?"

"Soon, do they know English?"

"Very basic stuff and I do mean basic"

"Enough that officers can reassure him that he's safe if he gets agitated again while waiting for the translator?"

"Yes, even seeing a uniform will help since he now recognizes the police uniforms regular officers wear because even though I'm not wearing one he has seen you guys around and now knows he's in a station which means he knows the uniforms"

"Good, and there will be an officer with him at all times until we can safely get him home, and now we have to contact Croatia to let them know he's safe"

"Can't until we have a name"

"Didn't he give you one?"

"Maybe, but if he did I didn't recognize it as one and I can't pronounce it either, as it is you're lucky I can recognize Croatian in the first place"

"True, we knew it was hit or miss with you but we had to take a chance"

"I know and understand that, but be careful in the future okay?"

"We will be, in all honesty as soon as those translators are fixed we won't have any issues again"

"How did they get broken in the first place?"

"Remember that really bad thunderstorm about a week into your special training?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Somehow and no one is quite sure how yet, but somehow those translators wound up getting soaked in water for about two days, we also lost other evidence too since the evidence was somehow with the translators"

"We'll figure it out, in the meantime I'll put a rush on your request, and I can do that since I created the translators, don't know why the people distributing those things didn't put a rush on it themselves since I specifically told people that military and police were top priority in regards to the translators"

The translator came and Clair decided to be in the interrogation room as well so as to have immediate answers in regards to several things and to assure him that he would be able to get home soon, she also did it for another reason though, because she was wondering about something she had heard from her human adoptive father about Croatia and needed confirmation and answers they had, they got his name and the city he worked at so that they could be informed that he was okay, he also told them that what had happened was that he was dealing with a drug deal gone wrong and was knocked unconscious, when he woke up he knew he had been drugged and immediately decided to try and get help, unfortunately when he did get out of the location he was in he didn't recognize anything and stumbled around until picked up by other officers for acting suspicious and with his limited English he couldn't understand what was going on

"It's okay, you reacted like a normal person, by the way I have a personal question, I heard that there are rebels in Croatia trying to bring the drug trade to the point it had been in Columbia, is that true?"

The translator relayed the question to the Croatian officer who confirmed that there were rebels, but that they weren't in the drug trade, they were in the slave trafficking trade and everyone was doing what they could to take the rebels down, and going so far as to think about asking the United Nations for help with their current issue if at all possible

"Thank you for telling us this, now then I'm sure you're hungry so I'm going to go get you some food while someone else informs your people you are safe, once we have made arrangements for getting you home you will also be informed of that information including where you are sleeping if it isn't happening today"

Ultimately the officer would have to stay for a week mainly due to restricted travel going to Croatia due to severe storms over there, and the government was only allowing international planes that were providing aid to land for several days, but finally the officer was able to go home to help with the clean up process

"So now what?"

"Now we get back to our regular duties and get ready for six months in Japan since that's part of what being in Winspector is all about, we report for duty in Japan in three weeks which means we need to have things in order for dad and his team when they arrive"

"Yeah quick question, why is the schedule like that anyways?"

"You know how we're also part of the EDC?"

"Yes"

"Well that's why, they need a full day of debriefing to understand what's going on here both police wise and also EDC wise and so we're here as well just in case, the EDC in Japan and America has things under control for that one day twice a year when the transfer happens, partly because before this unit was operational the EDC and police had to work together for six months in each country when my family started going back and forth after a solid year in Japan while I was doing most of my therapy healing"

"Okay that actually makes sense in a weird sort of way, what about court cases?"

"The courts are partially used to dad and his team needing to go back and forth so they already know the routine, as does the police station which means we won't have any cases by the time dad gets here, and if it does look like there's a new case we either hand it over to dad and the rest of the Japanese

Winspector team or to other capable officers at the station"

"We can do that, but what will our primary duties be then?"

"Well mainly we're going to be a police rescue unit, but we might also be asked to serve as officers of the court so that there isn't any chance of us being involved in a case"

"That's going to get boring"

"But it's the safest option, and like I said if we absolutely have to get involved in a case we turn it over to dad and his team or to other capable officers if it can't be finished in time for us to go to Japan"

"Okay, you know the routine the best so we'll follow your lead, but Clair I'm worried about the future"

"I know, we have things under control for now in regards to how this works but if something major happens in either country..."

"Exactly why I'm worried"

"The government's will know what to do though right Kerenai-Masaki?"

"Possibly Mark, but for now all I care about is making sure that things are in order for when dad and the team arrive from Japan, unless ordered to another place by the EDC"

"Would that extend our mission here then?"

"No, but it would mean that the EDC and police are the primary people to inform dad and the team what is happening instead of us, but that's something both governments knew about from the beginning when this process began since they were told straight out that since Winspector was joining the EDC they could be given sudden orders by the EDC that puts them in a different country than their primary ones, and that goes for us as well"

A few days later Clair was acting as an officer of the court in a closed session when she realized something no one else realized and spoke up

"Your honor may I ask two questions to the defendant as a special officer of the court?"

"You may"

"Thanks, sir, two questions, how long have you been undercover and who do you actually work for?"

(Sighs in defeat) "I'm an FBI agent who's been undercover for two and a half years, how could you tell?"

"Clair Kerenai-Masaki at your service agent"

"No wonder, considering your background it would be surprising if you couldn't figure it out"

"Exactly, is this your way of letting your handler know you're still alive?"

"Nope, unfortunately this is my way of ending my assignment without getting certain people killed since I call my handler on a regular basis inside the jail as a precaution"

"Well that's annoying"

"But needed I'm afraid"

"Fine, but I don't like it"

"Don't worry once there's a conviction we should be in the clear and people who need to know will know the truth, but until then your honor I'm afraid you're going to have to act like this is a normal criminal proceeding still"

"I share Kerenai-Masaki's sentiment this is annoying and I don't like it"

"Sorry judge, but it has to be this way to save possibly thousands if not millions of innocent lives"

"Wait a minute, agent are you telling me that there's a code Alpha-47-19?"

"Yes, that's  _exactly_  what I'm saying"

"And the FBI didn't tell anyone else because...?"

"They aren't exactly aware of just how serious it is, I only told them about the one family, and part of that was because even I wasn't fully aware of the extent until I was behind bars, the other reason was because I didn't want to risk calls being traced and the situation made even worse"

"Anything else you didn't tell the group?"

"Maybe...maybe not"

"Agent"

By this point Clair was definitely looking angry and was now growling out any words she said

"Sorry, I was eavesdropping and didn't clearly hear the conversation and as such I'm not sure if I actually heard anything useful or not"

That unfortunately was the last straw at the moment since Clair had been under a lot of pressure lately and she exploded into Cybertronian

*I can't believe that the FBI would send an agent in unprepared in regards to equipment, there is supposed to be specific equipment given to all undercover agents per EDC orders since aliens could be involved at any moment, all federal agencies were warned of this years ago, when I get my hands on the FBI...*

The judge interrupts her though

"Officer, can I finish court for the day or are you going to keep speaking in a language no one understands?"

Clair takes a deep breath and nods to the judge to let them know they can continue and the judge does make a decision that day and gives as harsh a sentence and they would have with a real criminal, but also in protective custody with the excuse that some of what was revealed in court meant that it was for their own safety that they were kept from general population for a time. After court Clair called her original adoptive family from the police station and spoke deliberately in Cybertronian to keep the conversation secure


	39. Chapter 39

*Optimus it's Clair, I need you to call dad and tell him to be on his guard and I need both family's to keep watch on terrorist groups and keep an ear out for potential trouble...there's an FBI agent currently in prison who may have heard something serious, though without proper equipment they aren't sure, as it is they definitely heard something that involves a code Alpha-47-19 and we can only hope it doesn't go into a Delta-97-105...okay...okay...bye*

Clair ends the conversation and sees that her team and a few other officers were looking at her as if asking if she would tell them what was going on

"Sorry guys, unfortunately I can't fully explain things right now, but let's just say that something was revealed in the courtroom I was in that is potentially very dangerous, Winspector you will get more information in private since you have to have the clearances I do for the most part as EDC officers"

"Wait even Winspector isn't cleared for things?"

"Except at need for reasons that are classified to everyone but the Captain and the Chief, and their clearances are only what they are because of certain aspects of me needing to do my job and what this station does as a whole"

"Fine, for now though...for now I think Winspector as a whole needs a break, and I know I'm not the Captain but while he's gone I am in charge of this station and you guys, especially Kerenai-Masaki have been working way too hard lately, I am ordering you to take at least two days off starting tomorrow and we'll reevaluate once those two days are over"

"It makes sense in a way guys"

"But Clair..."

"No guys, he's right we have been pushing ourselves pretty hard lately and I'm the worst offender, the training wasn't easy on me at all considering what we were doing"

"Very well then"

The next day Clair went to the mall to relax and get some things she actually needed that were only found in the mall when suddenly it was attacked and Clair instantly went into civilian protection mode and got a group of civilians and engineered the escape plan, though not without argument

"And just what makes you think you should be the leader?"

"I have training as an EDC kid that's why"

"Okay you win"

No one noticed that Clair's eyes had gone hazel with her activating the shields (though she didn't want to reveal that unless necessary thus the vests she insisted on) and finally the lights went out like she knew they would

"What's happening?"

"It's okay, standard procedure as far as I'm aware, says that the good guys are in charge of the building now, now then let's get to that freight elevator okay?"

"Okay"

They get to the elevator with a little trouble and finally felt that they could take a moment to breath

"Okay now then, I know everyone wants to keep their weapons but right now you need to make sure nothing is in your hands,  _especially_  a weapon of any kind"

"Just in case it's the police who greet us?"

"Exactly, just in case it's the police who greet us"

Clair was still keeping up the shields and slowly the doors opened to reveal the police

"Okay everyone come out slowly and then get on your stomachs with your hands out to your sides"

"Do it"

Everyone, including Clair obeys, but then Clair speaks up knowing that the officers needed to know her true identity in case the attackers followed them

"Officers this is Kerenai-Masaki officer number 54877951, I want to get the spare weapons I know you have and be part of the defense in case..."

She's interrupted though with the attackers having indeed followed them which meant that the police were now in a shoot out and she got her group to safety and then grabbed a weapon and started shooting back

"Kerenai-Masaki what are you doing?"

"Shooting back at the guys who attacked the mall in the first place what does it look like I'm doing?"

"Not getting civilians to safety"

"Oh they're safe, even if they don't know it they're safe"

"How do you know?"

"Look into my eyes and you'll see"

The officer looks and sees hazel eyes, the one thing Clair had disclosed shortly before the training exercise since it was needed

"Oh okay they're safe alright"

"Exactly"

"But still they really should be taken out of the area, as should you because even though you're trained I know for a fact that it had to of strained you dealing with this right now"

"No I need to fight back more right now"

"Sorry Kerenai-Masaki, but we need you safe physically and mentally, so get in the van and get out of here, or do I have to tell your team you've stressed yourself out more?"

"Okay you win, dirty pulling my team in but effective, but don't think I won't come back if it's needed"

"Okay, okay now go!"

Clair gets into the police van and quickly drives away knowing the best routes to take to get the group to safety

"What are you doing?!"

"Driving what does it look like I'm doing?!"

"Being insane and stealing police property!"

"I'm a police officer I can drive this at need!"

"Okay, where are we going then?"

The shouting had stopped since they were now going less crazy and squealing of tires happening

"I'm thinking either hospital or police station so that we're together for questioning which needs to be done"

"Police station, I think we're all okay, but the police station will have someone able to tell if we need the hospital ultimately right?"

"Yes my station does have that capability"

Suddenly they hear over the radio that all but one of the mall attackers were dead and that one attacker was being transported to the hospital under escort

"Okay the fight is over, backup isn't needed so let's just get to the station and go from there...my captain isn't going to be too happy with me I don't think"  
As soon as the van pulled into the station Clair saw her captain who was expecting it, but as soon as Clair stepped out with the rest of the civilians he was definitely mad

"Clair Kerenai-Masaki..."

"Sorry captain, the mall was attacked and you know full well I couldn't have predicted something like that"

(Sighs) "OK, you and the rest of the civilians need debriefing and we'll go from there, and now that you've revealed you were in the attack I can't stay mad at you because like you said there's no way you could have predicted the attack, especially since we don't even know why the attack happened in the first place"

"If you find out can you let me know?"

"Yes, all of you will be informed if we find out why this happened, though you won't be involved in the interrogation Clair"

"I know, there's no way I would risk a case by contaminating it with my presence as anything other than a witness"

"But wait won't we contaminate it by just knowing why it happened?"

"No we won't because there's a new law that was put into place...I think about three years ago that stated that victims of terrorist attacks are allowed to know why the attack happened without risk of contaminating the case, this ruling was made after another attack when the witnesses were kept in the dark until the trial came and many were emotionally distraught to learn of why the attack happened in the courtroom"

"The trick will be me, due to the fact that I'm a police officer that has unique clearances I can easily gain access to files without anyone knowing since I can't be locked out for security reasons, but at the same time for this trial I'm a witness which means I have to balance my role as a witness with my role as a police officer who has to stay informed of pretty much everything that goes on at this place"

"At the same time that all depends on if the criminal survives"

"True, the radio didn't say how bad it was"

Suddenly another officer came into the station and spoke up


	40. Chapter 40

"The prisoner will be escorted here tomorrow, doctors want to keep him overnight due to a combination of asthma and diabetes and getting shot can exacerbate both unfortunately"

"Very true, I've seen it happen before so I know what the doctors are worried about, the person shot had diabetes, now then it wasn't a very severe wound since it was a through and through and only in muscle but their numbers went wacky for some reason which was only caught due to being under observation for the night"

"How long were they in the hospital?"

"Three days, two to get the numbers under control again and one simply to make sure that he was truly stabilized at the time of discharge since diabetes is a complicated disease"

"Makes sense...oh I just thought of something, will this delay your trip?"

"No, one of two things will happen, either I give a notarized statement at the time of the trial or I will be allowed to come back for the duration of the trial, either way things will work out once a trial date is set"

"Well for now I have an assignment for you since your break was shortened unintentionally"

"What's the assignment?"

"Get to the ice rink and you'll see"

Clair goes and sees that it's packed with customers and she goes to get a ticket to the event only to find an access pass to the back once she stated her name which she took and went to the back and once there was greeted with the sight of hockey players, but not just any hockey players, these were professional players who were part of the EDC since the EDC had gone like the American military and had decided to have a reserve section so that the officers that wanted to could have normal jobs and these officers were professional players in the on season and other jobs in the off season

"Hey guys, so I guess there's a reason I'm here"

"Yes, your police chief told us what's been going on and your captain today explained what happened, so we've decided that you're goalie for tonight, so get geared up and we'll meet you on the ice"

"On it, see you in ten"

Clair changes into uniform and as soon as she's at her post she slams the face shield down showing that she's serious about what she's supposed to do and within the first shot at the goal the opposite team realized that it may be a newcomer who may or may not be temporary, but that newcomer meant business with the way Clair defended the goal. However what no one knew was that the team they were playing against were professional cheaters, currently also influenced by aliens, and the aliens were doing a good job of really hurting the EDC team, but during the second quarter of the game Clair saw the tell-tale sign of alien influence and as such realized what was needed, and quickly stopped a fellow player as they were setting up for position right before the third quarter started

"Here's the goalie equipment, defend the goal with your very life"

"Kerenai..."

"It's a code November 22 I have to be out on the ice, not defending this goal"

"Okay, let's do it"

Clair gives the goalie equipment to her teammate and the announcer states that this was unusual and her Captain for the moment goes over

"What are you doing Clair?"

But Clair doesn't respond softly instead she speaks up loud enough for the entire team to understand what's going on

"We have a code November 22 guys, so be careful"

"Right"

When the rest of the team heard the November 22 code they realized that Clair was needed, because she would be using her powers to defend the team as best as possible since a November 22 code meant that their opponents were under alien influence and that she wasn't sure if the aliens were injuring their teammates with abilities of their own or not but Clair wasn't taking anymore chances with that possibility. Ultimately her powers were needed since the aliens had indeed given their opponents special abilities to harm the EDC and it would turn into a fight that was nasty and involved evacuating the arena, and the opponent team was forced to forfeit not because of being under alien control but because of their cheating ways being exposed

"So that was not part of the plan, are you ever going to have two consecutive days of relaxing?"

"Hope so, because I can't go back on duty until that happens"

"Since when?"

"Since I pushed myself a bit too hard recently"

"Oh, okay"

"Now then I'm going home and starting the two day relaxation over again, might just stay in my apartment for the two days but might not"

"What if your Captain doesn't accept staying the two days?"

"Then I'm off until I have two successful days of going out and relaxing properly"

"And Japan?"

"That I have no clue about"

"Why not?"

"Because part of why we go back and forth is because we're also EDC officers, you have to understand something, Winspector was originally part of the Japanese police force, but once I came under the care of dad the EDC offered Winspector the choice to join them and they took the EDC up on their offer, now Winspector has dual jurisdiction in that they're still police officers but they are also part of the EDC, as such the EDC can order Winspector to any country in the world at need, though they primarily keep Winspector in Japan and the United States because I was going back and forth for four years of education and was used to the United States and Japanese education systems. Even with two branches of the EDC now functioning it's been decided that we would rotate between the two countries still since there is a possibility of one of the branches being ordered to a country other than Japan or the US so that at least one country has Winspector at all times, the only exception to that is conferences where all of Winspector is needed as EDC officers"

"So basically even if your police Captain doesn't want you to leave the EDC can override him?"

"Yes, but they do also coordinate things so there's a possibility that I won't be going if I don't get the chance to relax, it's definitely a complicated relationship with the overall intention to protect us from harm in both jobs"

"Well seeing as how we're reserve EDC officers we don't really have much room to talk do we?"

"Nope"

As it would turn out her Captain wouldn't accept two days staying in her apartment and as such she had to try again for getting out and relaxing, fortunately she ultimately succeeded this time around and when reassessed with the rest of the group it was decided that Clair could continue on her assigned duties with the police station and more specifically Winspector. A day later it was a good thing Clair was cleared for duty again

"Guys, I know I said no cases so as to not interfere with your going to Japan but I'm afraid you need to take this one since it involves the EDC and as official EDC members..."

"Any EDC case that comes to the police automatically transfers over to us"

"Exactly"

"Well at least I won't have any worries about having to turn this case over to anyone since the EDC will be involved pretty much from the start and will be able to take over in a moments notice when we go to Japan"

"However I do want regular officers involved as well Kerenai"

"Captain..."

"There's a reason though, it's something that I've been thinking about since I found out that an American branch of Winspector would come to my station, I want a secondary liaison team with the EDC if possible since there are times when both teams are going to be out of the country or on an assignment else where's and as such I want communication to go better and being involved in a case like this should help me figure out who would best fit that sort of team"

"Okay that actually makes sense, however I still don't know if that's a good idea"

"True it might not be, but still we need to figure out something considering our situation with the EDC"

"Captain, how often is this used as a temporary safe house?"

"Not too often, and it's also not used very frequently as a temporary EDC prisoner hold, but the prisoner issue does happen more often than the safe house, but otherwise we're basically ignored"

"Until Winspector came along"

"Yes"

"Okay we need to figure some things out I think"

"How come?"

"Because if this continues there could be problems in the future, and not just because Winspector is based here, Winspector is EDC true, but with you basically being a temporary safe house for the EDC the fact that you're basically ignored unless needed could make things very dangerous for you if you're continuously uninformed about things that could affect you"

"Oh by the way, this came for you but I can't read it"

Clair is handed the piece of paper, nods and then speaks up

"It's okay, family things that need to be kept private"

"Wait, was that Japanese?"

"Yes it was"

"Oh, didn't recognize it"

"Not surprised really"

What the Captain was talking about was the way the message was written, the Captain saw this

_Message_

ClairにはCybertronianの家族にランクを付けなければならない可能性があります。なぜなら、3人の指導者が何らかの理由で同時にCybertronに行くという事実を知らされていて、いくつかの要因によってProwlが担当している あなたは計画を立てて、あなたの特別法に従って担当していることを知らせなければならないかもしれません。オハイオ州では、大地が彼らの主養子ではないという事実のために、 私があなたを養子にして、私たちが作った書類が私を正式に私を家族の一部にしたので、家族の一部にすぎません

However since Clair could read Japanese she easily translated the message into this

*Clair there's a possibility of you having to pull rank with your Cybertronian family since I was just informed of the fact that the three leaders are all going to Cybertron at the same time for some reason, and while Prowl is declared in charge depending on several factors you may have to make plans and let them know that you're in charge according to your special laws, oh and I was just recently informed that Daichi will not be part of the hierarchy due to the fact that they are not his primary adoptive family, and is only part of the family because of me adopting you and then the paperwork that we had made up that officially made me also part of the family*

"So nothing for me to worry about?"

"Correct, now then my team will get started on this new case today and tomorrow we can start discussing if we should have other officers work with us so as to become liaisons to the EDC whenever my team isn't around for whatever reason"

A week later the liaison issue still wasn't fully resolved, though through Clair the EDC realized that they really shouldn't have been ignoring that station for so long and as such started putting certain policies in place that would ensure that they wouldn't be ignored unless needed any longer


	41. Chapter 41

"At least some issues are being resolved, but still Clair I really feel another group of officers should be liaisons between us and the EDC just in case"

"Except we haven't found any police officers that would work Captain, as such the idea can't happen yet, the EDC and I agree that you're right in regards to the fact that there probably should be a second liaison team to back up Winspector at a moment's notice but they have to be the right fit, otherwise things could deteriorate quickly between the two groups"

"How so?"

"Captain...have you ever heard about a liaison group in India called the har vyakti ka sampark which roughly translates to every person liaison?"

"No I haven't"

"They were a group that the EDC decided to use during a rough period between the Indian government and the EDC, unfortunately the group didn't choose people who would do well in seeing both sides of the story and relations between the EDC and India deteriorated very quickly, to the point that the EDC was going to pull out of the country, until an EDC officer took a bold step and went to the government on their own as a native Indian and a person with a small connection to the government through their parents working and had a serious meeting with the leaders of the country, and that's when the officer realized what was going on and single handedly started improving the relationship between the two. Now then it still took time to get things back to a form of normal but they got there, and the EDC has since refused to use that group as a liaison between India and them and if there are any branches in other countries they refuse to use them in that country as well"

"That's why you haven't appointed anyone to help Winspector"

"Exactly, that officer I just told you about, they faced serious repercussions from the Indian government, they basically risked their life at first to get to the bottom of the problem and resolve it as peacefully as possible, now it wouldn't be quite so dire here in America but still I don't want things to get bad while we're gone if another group is needed"

"And your dad's group?"

"They're the original Winspector team, what do you think?"

"Right, sometimes I forget that"

"That's actually something we need to address soon actually, because we've already swapped places once, but this will be happening every six months unless otherwise ordered by the EDC, we need the entire police station to understand that what one Winspector team does the other team does, no matter what nationality, and that both teams also have the same authority when it comes to EDC matters, and also remind them that dad's team has more practice due to being the original team"

"Okay when will we do that?"

"Tomorrow would be best, give them a little bit of time to properly prepare"

"Okay you have it, it will be a mandatory meeting before the start of second shift"

"Understood"

The day after a long debrief about Clair's Winspector team and what was expected of the station whenever Masaki and his team were there for six months while Clair and her team were in Japan, Clair was going about her business when suddenly she heard a very familiar voice cry out

"Nee-chan!"

Clair turns and sees her younger brother running towards her and a Japanese officer behind  _him_

"Ototo"

She catches him in her arms and switches immediately to Japanese

*What are you doing here?*

*Dad sent me here, with this note*

Clair reads the note and nods to herself

*Okay, you need to stay with me little brother, just until dad gets here, think of it like before, we'll go to my place soon but for now I need you to stay in my office the entire time you're at the police station*

She sees the look on her brother's face that meant he was going to protest and as such goes into a serious tone of voice that he knew meant business since Masaki also used that tone of voice

*I mean it Daichi, we bring criminals or suspected criminals in here all the time, some of them are harmless but others are very dangerous, this is for your own safety, I will have a police officer with you in the room the entire time and if you need something they will get it for you if they can, the only exception to you leaving my office is if you need the little boys room, do you understand me?*

*Yes I understand, no leaving your office until the end of your shift unless I need to use the little boys room, and I also need to remember to speak what little English I know if I need something*

*That's right, now come with me and we'll explain the situation to my Chief who will assign an officer to stay with you, I would like to do that myself but unfortunately I can't, this is just like when you're at the station back home with dad*

They go to the chief's office and Clair explains the situation to him

"I've also already laid down the rules for him about staying in my office until my shift is over and he knows I mean business"

"Very well, but I'm going to impose another rule for you and the officer I ultimately assign, you are to give each other reports about both sides every hour by phone or radio check in until your shift is over and I know that if not for the current situation you would prefer to stay here with your brother but unfortunately..."

"Exactly"

"Clair are you ultimately responsible for him until your father gets him?"

"Yes I have power of attorney over him at need"

"Then if something happens you'll be immediately contacted"

"Thanks for understanding"

"By the way, how did he get here?"

"Escorted by a police officer who has relatives over here, and Daichi doesn't know what the note says, he only thinks he's here until dad comes get him, unfortunately he's here for his protection, dad is doing an EDC assignment which could be dangerous if Daichi remains in Japan so he was sent here for his protection, I don't know if this will change our orders or not since the EDC will respect dad's wishes most likely about keeping Daichi in the United States, might also have to deal with a few other family issues as well if needed, but for now we need to know what the EDC will do with Daichi here and dad not wanting him to go back to Japan"

"Can you tell me anything about Masaki's actual mission?"

"Just that he was tracking some criminals that might have connections to some EDC enemies, unfortunately if the connection is correct these particular enemies aren't above kidnapping children of those investigating them, thus why Daichi was sent to me, it's an extra layer of protection for him"

"Which means you're likely staying for the moment instead of going to Japan like you should"

"Most likely"

"It's not guaranteed?"

"Nope, I have to go by EDC orders in situations like this, you have to understand something Captain, I may have dual jurisdiction in both America and Japan as a police officer and EDC officer, but if something happens to one of the teams the other team  _has_  to obey EDC orders, even if what's happening is one member specifically handling an EDC mission since the rest of that team might be pulled into the mission, and the EDC is world wide which means something could happen that needs a Winspector team and my team is the only team that would be available"

"Very well, we'll deal with it when the time comes, for now though you still have that EDC case you need to handle here"

"And I actually think it will be solved within the next few days"

"That's good to hear, and we'll discuss a secondary liaison team again later"

"Agreed, right now I need to focus on my brother whenever possible"

"For now don't you have that lead to follow?"

"Indeed I do, be back in a few hours, and again Daichi knows the rules since I just laid them down"

"Okay we'll keep him safe while he's here, every day that he's here should you decide to bring him to work for whatever reason"

"I know you will"

Three days later just like Clair predicted she finished the EDC case, and her team officially had new orders from the EDC stating that unless they were needed in any other country besides Japan they were to remain stationed in the United States until ordered otherwise

"Okay we have our official EDC orders Captain, and that is to remain here in the States unless told otherwise except for Japan, we're being kept away from Japan until things are hopefully resolved soon in regards to what's going on with dad"

"At leas the station now understands that you follow EDC orders and will not question why you're staying here as long as you tell them that you've been ordered to do so by the EDC"

"Exactly"

"By the way the date has been set for the first of at least two court proceedings for the trial of the mall shooting incident that you were part of"

"Why wasn't I informed?"

"Because the courts weren't sure if you would be at home or not so they sent the paperwork to me per an agreement you apparently had"

"Oh okay that makes sense, and you were also told since I was involved weren't you?"

"Nope, however a rookie accidentally opened the envelope and I saw the words mall and date and connected the dots before they got too far into it"

"That's good to hear, oh by the way I'm going to put this in writing but I am giving you permission to open anything that involves the courts if I'm not available for some reason"

"Okay, by the way you have two days off starting tomorrow, give you time with your brother"

"Thanks, what about the team?"

"They have the same two days off"

And so Clair and Daichi enjoyed two days with each other and during those two days received a phone call that stated that Masaki was finished with his EDC assignment and would be in the United States within the next few days, which relieved both of them since they were constantly worried about their adoptive father with one  _knowing_  what was going on while the other knew that he was with his big sister for a reason, though Clair was not wanting to explain the situation to a seven year old

*Clair, can we go watch that new movie?*

*Sure, the one about the adventure?*

*That one*

*Okay, get ready and we'll see if it's playing at the right time*

*Okay, dad said he would be here in a few days, that's great isn't it?*

*Yes it is, I've missed him, just like I missed you, it's just not the same talking over the phone*

*You're right, it isn't*

*English lessons while watching the movie and then also at home?*

*Yep, I know you're improving regularly, but you still speak Japanese more than English, and I sometimes indulge you a bit too much* (thinks) " _though I think part of that is because I don't want you to feel like you're going to lose your heritage with me like I felt I was losing when I was with the terrorists for seven years, I didn't speak Cybertronian in public for a very long time and the only reason I still knew it was I read and wrote in the language every day and secretly practiced speaking it those brief moments I had to myself_ "

They go to the movie and Daichi proves that he was indeed continuing to learn English while watching the movie and then later at her apartment he continued to prove that he was getting closer and closer to being fluent in English, though he still struggled and would most likely always have an accent he was learning and was able to be understood, as long as he didn't slip and use a Japanese word

"Good Daichi, now then..."

Suddenly both heard the front door being broken into and Clair instantly took action

*Safe room, now*

Daichi quickly goes into the safe room and just in time since just as Clair activated her powers to protect her brother just in case and heard the door to the safe room close intruders came in and there was a fight, and there would be a lot of blood, both Clair's and the intruders, which would be what Masaki would walk into later that day, but for the moment as soon as the fight was over with the intruders retreating Clair went to the safe room and said the code phrase that meant it was either her or dad, Daichi was initially a little scared when he saw his sister covered in blood but Clair said that she would be okay and went straight to her job, which was concerned seeing her covered in blood

"Not all of it is mine I swear, now then I was broken into and I'm not exactly happy I just got that place back into order after the exterminators came in and destroyed the place due to termites"

"Only you Kerenai-Masaki I swear"

"Sorry Captain, look I know I need medical attention so why don't we continue this conversation...in...the...hospital..."

Clair had finally passed out from blood loss meaning she was transported to the hospital in an ambulance after having her fellow officers do what little emergency first aid they could on her before the paramedics arrived. A couple hours after Clair arrived at the hospital there were still officers waiting with Daichi for word on Clair when Masaki arrived at Clair's apartment, and as soon as he entered he saw destruction and a lot of blood, however there were no bodies, as such he in a mild panic rushed to the nearest hospital he could think of which would happen to be the same hospital that the paramedics had taken Clair. As soon as Masaki entered the hospital he saw several officers and spoke up

"Excuse me but..."

That was all Daichi needed to hear to turn around and run towards Masaki and start talking

*Dad you're here...there was a noise at the door and Clair told me to go to the safe room and I heard noises while in the room, and then when Clair got me she was all bloody and then at her job she passed out and...*

*Easy Daichi, I'm here now, everything's going to be okay, why don't you go sit down quietly while I talk to your sister's coworkers to get a more detailed story from them that you might not have been around to hear*

As soon as Daichi was in a place that he would not overhear the conversation an officer willingly spoke to Clair's father as her father and not as a fellow officer

"She didn't actually give us much, just mentioned that she was finished with Daichi's lessons for the day when the apartment was broken into and she sent Daichi to safety, she did say it was an intense battle and that she was annoyed that her apartment was trashed just after having fixed it after the exterminators had come and torn the place apart due to termites"

"Further debriefing once she's stable and coherent?"

"Yep"

"Okay, how about you guys go back to the station and let your Captain know I'm here and will be by Clair's side for as long as the hospital allows and will then debrief him on some things he needs to know before my Winspector team takes over Clair's"

"Understood"

"Oh Masaki-san Clair said that if she should be incapacitated when you arrived to pick Daichi up you were to be given this disk to look at your discretion, I don't know if this qualifies or not but I still feel you should have it"

The officers go back to the station to let their Captain know that Masaki was there to take over watch over Clair, the one adult besides an actual EDC officer other than her unit that had that right to do so without question because of who he was to her

"Okay then, let him know to report to me at his discretion and to also give me an update on Kerenai-Masaki's condition as soon as he can"

Six hours later an officer was in the hospital to get checked out and saw Masaki still there with Daichi, however the way Masaki was positioned meant that either he had fallen asleep while waiting for further news on Clair or that he had fallen asleep right after he heard about Clair and hadn't even had the energy to contact her job, he also noticed that he was one of very few still in the patient waiting room

"Excuse me nurse, how long has he been like this?"

"The Japanese person waiting for further word on the officer? He went to sleep about fifteen minutes after the other officers left after having an earlier nurse promise to wake him up once there was news, which so far there hasn't been, except that surgery is still going on and I made the decision not to wake him up for that, and due to the nature of the patient I get hourly updates"

"Has anyone thought to cover him up?"

"How can we when he won't let us get a foot near him?, it's pure instinct but he has brought out his weapon several times when we get near him with just a blanket, we don't dare get a security guard to try and take his weapons from him"

"Hm...I think I know what's going on, give me the blanket and we can safely test my theory"

The officer is given the blanket and walks over to Masaki and easily puts the blanket over him, and even succeeds in using a seat cushion as a pillow and then quietly goes back to the nurse

"Turns out my suspicions were correct, his training is deeply ingrained, but he also instinctively knows when a fellow officer is close by, and he trusts fellow officers even if he doesn't actually know them, as such he will allow an officer to get close but no one else except at great need when he is this vulnerable, now then I have no clue who taught him this ability but I think it's good for him to have it and I warn you now to be careful once the doctor comes to talk to him about the officer because he can and will hurt you if he thinks you a threat while deeply asleep like he is"

"Good thing we've had soldiers and a few EDC officers who are like that, didn't realize police officers could also be like that was our only problem, now that we know we can handle him safely and easily once the doctor arrives"

"Okay, now then about why I originally came here"

"Indeed, what's wrong?"

"I think I sprained or broke my left wrist when I slipped on something"

Meanwhile Clair's surgery was finally over and she was in recovery, what no one knew though was that a special chip that had been implanted when she was younger was about to activate. Shortly before she left her family for seven years Punch/Counterpunch went missing and was presumed dead on a mission that needed Counterpunch since it had been decided after the two groups became one again that Punch would keep his former Decepticon form in case it was ever needed. However the mission he had been sent on shortly before Clair left her family was dangerous and as such he developed a back up plan that he didn't talk about, but would actually have been approved of had he only talked with his leaders about his concerns about the mission. That backup was a sub-dermal chip in Clair that activated only two ways, one way was if he was ever actually killed on the mission, the other way was by him sending a signal to that chip stating he needed rescue. Now then since Clair was unaware of the chip she herself believed him to be dead, but while she was sleeping in recovery the chip activated giving her coordinates subconsciously to follow once she herself was well enough and could afford the spare time, because the chip also kept a constant eye on her health so that she wouldn't do something when seriously hurt and also if it was Punch who activated the signal let him know that Clair was hurt and unable to go at that time. Meanwhile the doctor decided to go down to the waiting room to let those waiting for word on Clair

"Nurse, where's the family for Kerenai-Masaki?"

"Right there on the couch sir...sir don't get too close to him immediately, just call out his name, which is Masaki-san"

"EDC and soldier training reactions?"

"Yes, only other officers can get close to him without risk, which is the  _only_  reason he has a blanket covering him after a little over five hours without one"

"Understood nurse"

He walks over to Masaki and gets close enough to be heard without being in range of physically being assaulted

"Masaki-san...Masaki-san"

Masaki wakes up to see the doctor

"Yes?"

"Kerenai-Masaki is out of surgery, now then she'll be in recovery for about an hour before being moved to the ICU but barring any complications she should be alright in a few weeks"

"That's good to hear"

"Unfortunately I can't let you see her until she's in the ICU and even then there are restrictions, if she were a child that would be a different story but as she's an adult..."

"Understood, what about her brother?"

"How old is he?"

"Seven"

"Sorry, rules clearly state that even siblings have to be at least ten years old to visit, not because we want to keep family separated but because we've found that younger children tend to react badly to a sibling in the ICU if they are younger than ten for some reason"

"Not emotionally capable probably"

"Probably"


	42. Chapter 42

The next day Clair woke up to medical binders on her wrists due to the breathing tube she still had in her throat due to the fact that the surgeons had discovered a collapsed lung, as it was she was lucky not to have a punctured lung but it was close enough that the doctors weren't risking it for at least forty-eight hours. Unfortunately she was unaware of being under medical care because her mind had basically shut down during the fight, that combined with blood loss meant she didn't remember going to her job and giving them a basic debrief of what had happened at her apartment. It also meant she woke up in a panic trying to fight the restraints and setting off alarms, fortunately all medical personnel had been trained for such a reaction and as such as soon as the first doctor came in and saw what was going on they reacted immediately to resolve the situation

"Orca Kerenai-Masaki, Orca"

At hearing those words Clair instantly started calming down, though her breathing was trying to be ragged while in a regulated state with the breathing tube

"First off do you remember what happened to you?"

Clair was given a piece of paper to write on and one of her hands freed for that purpose

"Fight in the apartment, after that don't remember anything"

"Okay, well you had a collapsed lung, and that lung was almost punctured, thus it was decided you would be on the ventilator for at least forty-eight hours to give you lungs time to heal and rest, everything is okay, we only had you on the restraints until we could explain about the breathing tube and know you understand what's going on"

Clair nodded her understanding and then saw her adoptive father, who went over to her and she instantly narrowed her eyes and wrote in Japanese

*You're injured...and you haven't seen anyone, if Ratchet finds out no one in the family will protect you, last time someone tried to protect Galvatron from his wrath they themselves were in need of his attention for three straight hours*

*Understood*

*Oh by the way that also goes for First Aid, he's just as bad as his mentor, and for that I have personal experience*

*Story once you can talk?*

*Nope, now*

*How?*

Clair instead switched to using her hands

*ASL*

The doctor speaks up

"Which will have to be done outside of my presence unless you feel like you have something to say to me or don't mind me hearing anything since I am fluent in sign language due to an older brother who was born deaf"

*Not cleared*

"Okay then I will leave and let everyone know not to disturb you before lunch since your father is on restrictions since you're an adult"

*Understood*

The doctor leaves and Clair gives into the look of her adoptive father

*Okay so once shortly before I left for seven years I got between First Aid and a patient who had hidden their injuries long enough that it wasn't completely bothering them but they still needed medical attention. I stupidly decided to try and get between the officer and First Aid because I figured if he had successfully hidden the injury until then than it wasn't very serious, that's when I learned that First Aid is like Ratchet when you try and get between him and a patient. Now due to the fact that I am very much human there are certain restrictions on my Cybertronian family to get me back for pranking them or for the medics to get me back for getting between them and their patient, as such they did the only thing they could think of, they drugged my drink at dinner, moved me from my room after I was asleep and then the next day which was a weekend they woke me up with loud music only for me to find myself in a place I wasn't sure off since the drugs were also slightly disorienting, turns out I was in a seldom used section of the medical bay, they only used a temporary lock that would have automatically been undone if there was an attack so that I could go to my designated safe room but I was in their long enough to learn my lesson of never getting between a medic and their patient. The other members of my family had other things done to them that were worse in comparison*

"Okay then never do what you did understood, and that definitely means I won't expect anyone to hide behind...how could you tell anyways?"

*Okay dad, ten years of actively looking, don't forget I re-certified during the four year period of going back and forth between countries*

"That makes sense then, I'll get it taken care of soon I promise"

*You'd better or the  _medics_  are going to seem nice in comparison to me*

Masaki just nods and then leaves for the day having been informed before his visit that he was needed to help the transition between the two Winspector units due to mild difficulties in the actual police department. Three days later Clair was out of the hospital and doing better than most expected, not knowing that her family had decided to help the healing process with a drug specifically created and then approved by the FDA for her because of her unique situation, it helped with the healing process due to the fact that her powers were semi-sentient, it's part of why she needed specialized medical drips if she ever pushed herself to the point of passing out, while at the police station that's when the hidden coordinates hit her in her mind and she stiffened, an action that didn't go unnoticed by the Captain, who had her on desk duty with conditions

"Kerenai-Masaki, what's wrong?"

"Captain, I need to make a phone call, immediately and unfortunately I don't have time to use my office"

"Make it, I can deal with the alien language"

"Thanks"

Clair picks up the phone and dials a number by heart

*Blaster it's Clair, I need to be on speakerphone with the Primes and Galvatron immediately, it's in concern about one of our own...sorry I need to speak to them personally before I reveal what this is about, just understand that it's important...okay...guys Punch/Counterpunch is alive...I don't know the full details but I just received coordinates to his location, and he personally activated them...yes I am willing to do that...okay will do...bye*

She hangs up and has an intense look that the Captain wasn't too happy about

"Sir I need to speak with dad about a family matter"

"Go"

Clair goes to the office to see both teams of Winspector talking and there were also a few other officers there due to what was being discussed which was integrated patrols so she immediately switched to Japanese to keep the conversation within EDC ranks

*Dad, remember when I mentioned a Cybertronian going missing and presumed dead shortly before I left my family?*

Masaki nods

*Turns out he's actually still alive, and has been this whole time, he just somehow sent me his coordinates and I need to go however I am also thinking of taking at least Ryoma with me since Winspector is still the only ones who know how to safely take down Cybertronians*

*Still?*

*Yep, Faireborn says they're still blocking her occasionally, remember what she told us the first day of training Mark?*

*Yep*

_First day of Winspector training_

"Marissa I was wondering something, how come whenever we try to mention how the other EDC officers would react to an out of control Cybertronian they said they would let my other family members take care of it?"

"Because only Winspector will have the training needed Adam, and don't go there Clair, I tried to get all EDC officers trained but I am being blocked, only your dual jurisdiction and Presidential order are getting Winspector properly trained, I can't do anymore if I am to remain at my post, this is where I am needed and as such I have to sacrifice everyone knowing something for their own safety to keep my post, the leaders are aware of my issue but can't do anything as of yet"

"Fine, but I hope one day others will be properly trained"

"You're not the only one with that hope"

_Present_

*Is her job at risk again?*

*Yep, thus why she isn't doing anything right now, but that's why I need Ryoma, and I will need to tell my family and we'll need a medic because while I am re-certified most likely I will be the human medic and thus need someone else to act as the Cybertronian medic*

*Okay then, official EDC orders to follow soon?*

*Yep*

Clair then narrowed her eyes looking directly at her dad and growled

*Dad...*

*Sorry Clair I forgot, but it's not that bad*

*Oh really? I want you to pick up that coffee cup on the desk then*

Masaki goes to the desk and picks up the coffee cup, but has trouble doing so and before the cup could slip out of his hands Clair grabs it

*Dad, you, me, training room after you get taken care of...by either Ratchet or First Aid*

*But Clair...*

*No dad, did I or did I not promise that they would be  _nice_  compared to me, you're going to learn the hard way what that means, I may be your daughter but that doesn't mean I can't wipe the floor with you for being stupid, especially considering my background and you well know it*

While all of this was going on the entire Winspector team, both Japanese and American branch were wincing on occasion making the other officers wonder what was going on but not able to completely understand due to the fact that Clair and Masaki were speaking in a foreign language that apparently only the others known to be part of Winspector understood, but they could pick up much from body language being that they were patrol officers for the most part, though one also had done some undercover work

"Um...we could leave and come back at another time if needed"

That snaps both Clair and Masaki out of the conversation and they easily transition back to English

"Sorry, it's a private matter yes, but one that will be handled outside of the station, now then in the meantime I need updates on what you guys were working on so that I can properly integrate it before the American branch leaves for Japan"

"But the court case..."

"I know, but I can easily have a notarized statement before we leave, or shortly after we arrive, the courts will understand Mark I promise you this"

"Fine, I protest still by the way"

"Oh I know that, but orders are orders, don't forget our dual jurisdiction that we have which is why things are the way they are"

"We were working on patrols Clair, so that the other officers understand that while we may be a specialized police rescue unit we're still also police officers, kind of like the American SWAT teams"

"Understood Masaki, anything else to report guys?"

"Nope, you guys handle the transition a little more, we need to get out on patrol anyways...oh wait I do have a very valid question for Bikel and Walter, how do you guys feel about K-9 patrols?"

"We're fine with them"

"Okay just making sure because..."

"Because of the fact that they're German Shepherds which are trained police dogs and quite frankly can damage even you two if they so wanted"

"And sniffed at and...have business done on them and who knows what else"

"They're dogs, they act like they act, if only highly trained and controlled with handlers, the Commander has explained before after an incident with Aleck"

"Aleck?"

"A Shepherd who died of old age a few years ago, a retired bomb dog"

"Okay, we'll leave you guys be"

As soon as the door was closed everyone looked at Masaki and Clair in obvious asking of explanation as to what had just happened

(Sighs) "I know, I know, we need to explain, as you guys well know dad is my adoptive father and the person who created Winspector, however recently we realized that we would have formal interactions with each other in front of other officers and as such it was decided that in situations like this we would not act like the family we are but as professional police officers speaking to one another, if it's just the Winspector team we can act familiar with each other since it's to be expected amongst a tight nit group but around other officers it's a big no go"

"That makes sense, however why are the teams being split up?"

"Because of how the mission is going to go, Bikel, Walter, Junko and Hisako can work semi-autonomously, but you guys can't, which is why dad will be going back to Japan with you to keep you guys going with him being in regular contact with the Japanese branch in America, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that the Japanese branch has been around longer and as such can handle themselves better in a semi-autonomous function than you can for now"

"True, at least this separation will be only temporary and it is official EDC orders which means no one else will fight the necessity"

"Exactly"

"But first...I think you need to do something you rarely let yourself do Clair"

"And what's that Ryoma?"

"A spar, an actual full out spar against an EDC training robot, I know you do training but you hold back by a lot, however as an EDC officer you have access to the EDC base at any time you want for training or other purposes but you don't use those facilities unless you are ordered there for whatever reason"

"And there's a reason why that is"

"This had better be good"

"Oh but it is, Ryoma you and the rest of the original Winspector team know best how long it took for me to get back on an EDC base willingly after my ordeal, you also know that I made a vow at a very young age to protect my family and the EDC which is what caused my ordeal in the first place. The reason I keep away from the EDC base now is because I feel like I am being followed whenever I am ordered to the base, I take different routes every time and still I get that feeling. I don't know why or who is following me if I am being followed, but it only happens when I head to the base, as such I never linger longer than necessary and I  _never_  go there unless ordered to, and the EDC knows and understands this, once we have a solution I will willingly start going to the base again for proper training but not until then for everyone's safety"

"Fine, but you weren't as young as some people might think"

"Oh but I was, I made that vow about two and a half years  _before_  I joined the terrorist group for seven years due to an incident that I am not going to talk about because of how personal and private it is for several people"

"Okay you were young, but Clair that kind of situation could always be used against you"\

"I know, however at the same time you have to understand something Adam I have training you guys don't for a reason, even if I did a lot of that training in secret the open training was done when I was young and could be done openly, what I mainly missed out on was military training and some tactical training as well, but I learned about tactics enough on my own that my would be teacher decided not to press for formal lessons, as for the military training it was decided that only the branch I joined would train me if I so chose to join the military due to my circumstances"

"Well either way you need the training Clair, even I can tell you're getting...moody"

"Later Ryoma, right now we have a mission to prepare for and I have a statement to write, get notarized and sealed until the court date, because trust me this is going to take me  _past_  when I'm supposed to be in court as a witness"

"Except I'm now giving you an order to get in training Clair"

"Dad..."

"Nope, do you want me to bring in the big guns?"

"Like you can speak for yourself since you haven't seeked medical attention yourself yet"

"Except I'm not talking about the medics Clair, I'm talking about the  _big guns_ "

"You wouldn't"

"Oh yes I would and you know it"

"Okay, let's just both go since Ryoma is right and as are you about doing that, however don't think I'm too happy about this, besides I need to deal with a few things on the base anyways, I just really, really hate my current situation"

"Back to formality once this door opens"

"Indeed"

The three leave the station and through luck that's actually when they finally discover who had been following Clair for a bit, it was a news reporter who had ideas of grandeur in regards to getting the inside scoop on what went on with the department's newest unit Winspector who had dual jurisdiction, and they felt what better way to access the police department and EDC base than to follow Clair

"So...about how many rules has this guy broken that we can formally arrest him for?"

"Well considering the fact that if I wasn't who I am he might have gotten into a highly restricted area, and the fact that all reporters were given  _strict_  orders to leave Winspector alone I would say we have two charges at least, might be more as I interrogate him"

"We'll interrogate him Kerenai-Masaki, you need to go to the base"

"Got it Captain"

An hour later Masaki was still getting a blistering lecture from both Ratchet and First Aid because it turned out the damage was worse than what even Clair had originally thought and as such Masaki was  _still_  in the medical bay for repairs on his mechanical arm, Clair herself only just escaped a lecture from the Primes and Galvatron through the fact that she was protecting the base by staying away even if it ultimately turned out that what she thought was a threat was really just a reporter that was over eager to get a story

"However next time, explain what the problem is and we'll see if we can't figure it out together"

"Understood, where's dad?"

"Still getting chewed out by Ratchet and First Aid"

(Sighs) "I should have known that arm would take a while, I told dad that the  _medics_  would seem nice after I was through with him and I plan on going through with that promise, the problem is that quite frankly I need him out of medical and cleared for me to do so"

"You're not happy with him either are you?"

"Nope"

"We're not as well, by the way where's Daichi?"

"Finally in a semblance of school, only took us two years almost to resolve our issue of his education"

"Why didn't the two of you come to us sooner?"

"Because we were having a debate still on whether or not he would be educated like I was, and that wasn't even really education for me, it was reintegration with the real world"

"Well either way, you might want to check and see what's the hold up if you two are going to go at it for his delay in treatment"


	43. Chapter 43

Clair goes to the medical bay to find out that Masaki's artificial arm was still not fixed due to how delicate the work was because of all the damage the arm had taken, but finally an hour after Clair came in the arm was fixed and boy did Clair and Masaki go at it, shouting at one another in Japanese during any breaks in the fight and while most of the human EDC officers didn't understand a word that was being said her Cybertronian family did and they understood that Clair was  _mad_  with her adoptive father for doing the damage he had done and then ignoring it to the point where his arm was useless

"Geez I haven't seen her this mad since...well...we called it the flying squirrel disaster since we weren't entirely sure what to call it"

"You're right, this is the first time in a few years that she's been this mad at him and she has a valid reason to be mad as well"

"So about how much longer will this go on?"

"No idea, she is really mad this time, I think it's about on par with how angry she was right after she came home from seven years with the terrorists, before we truly understood her PTSD"

"Her...that could be part of the problem, we know she has PTSD, we know it's more prevalent here in the States since she's basically living alone and for our own safety has stayed away, what if she's been having problems recently unknowingly for the rest of the station and seeing her adoptive father not taking care of himself triggered her anger?"

"Except she knows that she's supposed to seek help if it gets bad"

"What if she doesn't realize it herself, think about it, her main warnings are bad nights of sleep, several nights in a row, but what if she isn't having that this time, that something else is giving her triggers without her knowledge?"

"We'll have to ask her after they finish fighting then, because if that's the case than she herself isn't aware of what's going on and that's dangerous for her and the upcoming mission"

"So we're back to waiting then?"

"Yep, but not for too much longer I think, look"

The group looks at the fight and sees that both were exhausted, the problem though was that Clair  _was_  having a PTSD episode that she herself wasn't aware of, what no one knew was that while Clair was still high on adrenaline from the fight in her apartment the doctors gave her drugs to help keep her out with the surgery and while even with her high from the adrenaline rush would normally have been nothing to worry about there was a reaction to a drug on the blades she had fought against, a drug that was fast acting and had disappeared without a trace by the time she was in surgery. Those two drugs had sent her into a hyper awareness of injuries to her family and disturbed her sleep without her remembering that her sleep was disturbed since she actually couldn't wake up, which is what alerted her to a PTSD episode in the first place if it was happening at night, day time was slightly better but unfortunately she hadn't had an actual trigger during the daytime since her release only a few days earlier, but all of that was about to change

"Let's end this"

Clair is practically growling and had switched to English, but that wasn't the cause for concern, the cause for concern was the fact that right after she made that statement she brought out a knife in reverse grip and her eyes were hazel

"Clair..."

But Clair unfortunately was in full PTSD mode and wasn't listening her war cry in Cybertronian was the final link in realizing that she was in a PTSD mode

*For the protection of my family I will destroy you!*

Masaki dived out of the way while Prowl took the blow in his lower left leg and then ended it with one phrase

"Arctic fox Clair!"

That stops Clair in her tracks but she ends up breathing heavily and visibly shaking off the adrenaline from her PTSD episode

"Sorry dad"

"It's fine Clair, but you're not going on the mission until Ratchet or First Aid clear you"

*But Galvatron, Punch...*

*Can wait, you know full well he would want you healthy on a rescue mission like this, no arguments Clair, we need to find out what sent you into a PTSD episode without warning, it's for everyone's safety*

*Fine*

They go to medical where Ratchet asks Clair some questions and that's how they figure it out

"I was cut in the fight at my apartment, there must have been some sort of drug on one of the blades"

"That cleared by the time you were in surgery, okay than that would make sense, you do realize that this means you're on medication alerts now right?"

"No other way Ratchet, no other way"

"True, you're cleared for the mission by the way, just need to get a few more things in order and then you'll be able to go"

"Good"

Five hours later the entire team was ready to go, First Aid was on the mission despite wanting Clair to switch him with Ratchet, until she explained  _why_  Ratchet needed to stay behind

"First Aid I need you with me for two reasons, first of all you're just as good as Ratchet with almost anything that could possibly go wrong, the second reason is because if my suspicions are right Earth will need Ratchet badly while we're gone, we can't lose both medics if we can avoid it since I have no clue just how bad things will go, hate to break it to you but Ratchet will fight more willingly than you would"

"Fine, but I hope my skills aren't needed, and there are things that Ratchet can do better than I can and you know that"

"True, but what you can do is better than even me even if I re-certified, and you can keep Punch alive at need until he gets to Ratchet if it's that bad"

"Okay that makes sense, by the way Optimus sent us video of your fight with your adoptive father, you made  _us_  seem nice in comparison to you"

"Yeah, and I had warned him about it too"

"But still...did you have to almost break both his ribs and his right leg in two blows?"

"Wait what?"

Clair is shown the image and groans

"Great I was in a PTSD episode during the fight and it didn't get noticed until I brought out my knife"

"And that's not good because all of us are trained to notice those signs  _because_  of how dangerous it is for you to be in such a state during a fight"

"Well, it's helpful in a real life or death fight so long as you get me out of it as soon as the fight is over, but in a spar like that one it is very, very dangerous"

"Well we know a new situation that will put you into a PTSD state faster than normal that we know to watch out for, and that means we can also keep a closer eye on your spars if you are ever in that situation again, because let's face it, if it was a normal lack of sleep you would be doing your best to limit triggers and would have been seeking help, plus I think you would have a few more days before you got to the point of needing help, but even before you need to seek help you do things to lower the risk of a possible episode, including snappiness I might add"

"When did I do that?"

"Uh, second summer of high school when we had that forest fire incident, you were getting really, really snappy before you suddenly stated you weren't going to help anymore since you were going to be getting intense daily therapy for your PTSD"

"That...that was a different situation First Aid, unfortunately I can't tell you everything because quite frankly parts of those days are a bit...blurred, but what I can tell you is that what I was dealing with was a fear that I had to deal with while I was gone for seven years and that was the thought of losing my family to something out of my control, now then I have that fear on a regular basis but the forest fire was so much worse because dad and his team were also involved and I became extremely close to them in the first year that I stayed in Japan healing from my time with the terrorist group. I may also have been dealing with a very mild case of PTSD, however through therapy sessions we figured out that I was  _not_  having an intense PTSD episode, that what was truly going on was a deep fear that I was only subliminally aware of at the time"

"Very well, by the way we need to make way to the shuttle that will be our transportation"

"Not for another three hours, I have something I need to take care of first, legal matters that will take  _at least_  an hour, possibly an hour and a half, fortunately I don't have far to drive but still three hours gives me time to get the legal issues taken care of and for me to...well for me to get a few supplies from my job since I am  _not_  going back to my apartment yet"

"But it's been a few days since then"

"And it's still considered a crime scene, I checked while dad was receiving his blistering lecture from the two of you"

"Okay then"

Three hours later the team that had been selected to save Punch were on the shuttle and leaving Earth


	44. Chapter 44

"Are the coordinates set?"

"Yes Rodimus they're set"

"Good"

"By the way, and this is for the EDC and Cybertronians, if we find him in his right mind I get first dibs at punishing him for keeping this from us"

"Says who?"

"Says the Cybertronians due to rules and regulations they set up after they adopted me for my own protection and this is covered under those rules and regulations, it isn't exactly covered under laws they created after my adoption but still, it's close enough"

"She's right, she does indeed get first go at him if he's okay, if he's not then she gets first go at him once he's medically cleared for duty"

"Of course we could also always wind up in the situation where all of us take a crack at him"

"True, because you never know what he's been up to for so long"

"Or who got him"

"Exactly"

"Wait, you mean we might have to fight him?"

"If he's found first yeah, I have no  _clue_  how he was coherent enough to even give me these coordinates that we're following"

"Speaking of, how long will it take to get us there?"

"About three days if I'm calculating this right"

"Okay, now why do you question his coherency?"

"Simple, because we've thought him dead longer than I was separated from my family, that and the fact that quite frankly I'm lucky I even have these coordinates, I almost lost them as soon as I got them"

Optimus deliberately switched to Cybertronian at hearing that

*Clair what do you mean?*

(Sighs) *It's bad Optimus, the chip has two different activating switches, one of them is if he really had deactivated, as such we would be doing a body recovery, the other switch is the switch that we're using which is him actually activating the chip to let us know where he is, however I've had time to meditate and it turns out that when he activates the switch he has to be able to keep himself conscious long enough for me to actually get coordinates and write them down or be in a shuttle and input them first, however the fact that I barely managed to write the coordinates down in time combined with the fact that quite frankly I get the feeling that my ability to sense him through the chip would also normally be stronger makes me think he was at the end of his reserves and only just activated the chip for rescue. Quite frankly I don't know if this turned into a recovery mission as soon as the coordinates were given to me or not, and either way we have no idea of his current status because I think the chip would also be doing that for me if he were conscious*

*Do you want to keep Ryoma away should Punch be deactivated?*

*No, because if Punch is functional and under enemy control we could use all the hands we can get, don't forget out of all the human EDC officers only Winspector can take you guys out in hand to hand, the rest of the officers can take you out with weapons, but they have to be extremely lucky whenever you guys are under enemy control, especially since we don't want to actually take any of you guys out*

*And you'll deal with his mental and emotional health if we find Punch gone?*

*Yes, Optimus he lived with me for a solid year while I was healing from my seven year period of terrorist activity, then over the next four years of switching back and forth between the two countries while he wasn't with me constantly he was still around pretty frequently, about as frequently as you guys came to be as I returned to a new normal for us, I can take care of him and he can take care of me at need, and don't forget that Winspector has the clearance to know the entire truth about me and as such he knows the possibility of Punch being gone and as such he might not be as severely as affected as you might think he is*

Suddenly Ryoma jumps into the conversation in Japanese to keep the whole discussion private between the three of them

*Okay you two, while I didn't understand the conversation I do know you're concerned about me, probably in regards to the state we might find Punch, Optimus no matter what his state I'll be fine, I'm a police officer and am used to hearing and seeing officers die in the line of duty, especially since we joined the EDC, Clair if you even  _think_  about doing a discrete monitor on me I will beat you down in a sparring match, you need to trust me to come to you to deal with any affects of this mission, am I clear you two?*

*Crystal*

*Good*

Optimus keeps the conversation private just a little longer by talking directly to Ryoma

*Ryoma I get that you can handle the mission, however I am giving you a direct order, if things go seriously wrong I want you to take what EDC officers you can get to safety and return to Earth and get Rodimus and a backup team, Clair and what Cybertronians are still on the surface will fight for as long as we can to give you a chance to come back with help*

*Except it will take at least three days to get back to Earth and then another three days to get back here if Clair's coordinates are correct*

*True, but that's why I am also giving you my tracking frequency so that you can track me if you return and we're not here*

*Fine I will obey since they are direct orders, but don't think I won't leave the surface without a fight myself, even if it's to give the enemy parting shots*

*I know that but I also know that you understand the need to have a backup plan in place in case things  _really_  go wrong*

*Look, let's just agree to watch each others backs, and Ryoma I am also going to give you an order, if you have to go back to Earth tell dad what's happened and to let him know that you're going to be in charge of the American branch, the Japanese branch will temporarily function alongside the American branch until dad and I can get back...Ryoma this is because I fear for my team if dad has to leave on a rescue mission, there are issues starting to show up at my station and I need to protect my team as much as possible and you're the only one I trust since I know for a fact that Bikel and Walter will be transferred to another base temporarily if dad is sent on the rescue mission*

*Why would the EDC do that?*

*Because of Daichi Ryoma, if something forces dad to leave the EDC has developed a policy that Daichi will be sent to the base that either one of the three Cybertronian leaders are at or where Faireborn is at and since he hasn't met his Cybertronian family yet it would have to be where Faireborn is at and Bikel and Walter will be his protectors whenever Faireborn isn't available*

*Of course if both of them are at the same base that's just fortuitous isn't it?*

*Yes it would be*

The group then goes back to English for everyone else for the rest of the trip, and they search the entire area only to find a small device and that was it

"Okay so where is he then?"

"I...I don't know"

"Maybe this device will have the answers for us"

"Then let's get back to the ship and find out"

So they get back to the ship and activate it seeing Punch

"Hey, if this is Clair and the EDC then that's great, you found the device I specifically made before I activated the chip, while I was in captivity, this is but the first part, I have new coordinates for you to follow via my tracking chip since while I'm going to try and head to another location there's a good chance I'm going to be captured. Clair I'm sorry about everything and will submit to whatever you plan to do later, but for now you need to follow my tracking chip because of who the enemy who initially captured me and most likely captured me again is. Hopefully you find me soon since this device is only to be used if I am unable to stay at my current location, Punch out"

"Let's go we have a trail to follow"

"Hold Optimus, there's something I need to check first"

"What is it?"

"Remember when we discovered I can handle tasting small portions of Engergon from your wounds?"

"What of it?"

"There's something I need to check in regards to Punch and the Energon that he spilled"

Clair walks over to the leftover Energon that Punch had spilt and puts her hand in it and then tastes two fingers and she suddenly gasps and stands up straight, and if they had seen her eyes they would have been wide in shock, another clue that something was wrong was that Clair automatically slipped into Cybertronian

*First Aid, Optimus he's been poisoned! I don't know how severe the poisoning is or if his captors had an antidote, but what I  _do_ know about it is that it explains why I barely managed to get the coordinates to this location, he would have been fighting the poison shutting his systems down even temporarily in order for possible rescue, it also means that if he's alive he most likely won't be in his right mind and we'll have to fight him*

*What makes you say that Clair?*

(Sighs) *I've been exposed to this poison before, while I was with the terrorists and for three days I thought everyone was an enemy, even if I had left you guys to protect you I would have attacked, and that was a heavy dose that I was lucky didn't kill me, he might be given this dose in small quantities constantly to make him against us*

*And if we're not lucky in regards to his dosage?*

*Then...then we will have no choice but to terminate him ourselves because there's something else about the poison that no one knows about, something very, very insidious that I had to deal with a few months later that I discovered happens at any dosage. There's a reason it took me a full year of therapy to heal enough to go to school and be around you guys, the poison has a period of reactivation where once again you think those around you are the enemies, now then the severity depends on the dose, however...if you get a continuous dose over a period of a week or more than the side effect is permanent once activated and the person is a permanent threat to friends, family and enemies alike, if I find out he's been given a constant dose by the time we rescue him and it's been a week or more we will have no choice but to kill him for everyone's safety, even if it goes against everything we believe in or wish for we have to think of the safety of everyone else first*

*Understood*

The group switches back to English after that

"Okay everyone we need to get back to the shuttle and track Punch down, defenses are on standby at all times now since he wasn't here, defense teams are on rotation and that's final"

"And one more thing, and this is for the EDC officers, there are two rooms that are officially off limits as of now, Ryoma and I will have complete privacy in our quarters, and if there's a lock on the training room and you know the two of us are in there  _the lock stays_ , last time someone broke that rule they almost got seriously hurt because of how the two of us train, it's way, way too dangerous for normal EDC officers, the Cybertronians are exempt from that rule on general principle of being stronger"

"Okay the training room rule makes sense, but why are you keeping us from your quarters?"

Clair's eyes briefly flashed hazel because they had recently discovered that her powers were also affected by her emotions and if she was extremely irritated her powers would have a brief flare up making her eyes turn hazel for just a moment until she got her emotions under control again

"They're off limits because I say they are, if you can't accept that than accept that the reasons are classified"

"But..."

"No, Clair is right, the two of us need the privacy for reasons we can't get into with you guys, only the Cybertronians are cleared to know why our quarters are now officially off limits"

"And we do indeed know and understand, and will enforce that rule to the best of our abilities"

"Oh and by the way new medic rule, if you get injured doing something stupid, if it's minor enough you can take care of the wounds yourselves, with a caveat, if it doesn't improve within twelve hours it comes to me because it means you messed up some where's or it was worse than you thought it was"

"And just why would you do that?"

"Because I am down right  _tired_  of doing minor wound care, and when I say minor I don't meant band-aid minor because everyone can handle band-aid minor wounds themselves, I mean first degree burns and mild cuts that are a bit bigger than a band-aid can handle"

"Mentally or physically?"

"Both First Aid! I have been woken up five times in one night before, and there are other times that aren't as bad but due to my other issues I have a slightly harder time going back to sleep at times and that makes me tired and grumpy, and by the way Ryoma sorry I blew off steam on you whenever that happens"

"Don't worry, I knew something was bothering you and better me or training robots than regular EDC officers, especially since you once put on the suit"

"Don't remember doing that"

"Oh you did it, and I'm not surprised you don't remember that happening considering just how...annoyed you were, not to mention you looked exhausted as well"

"When exactly was this?"

"Yesterday, which is saying something considering we've only been on this ship for three days"

"Yesterday...oh man I was out of it, and I thought I could handle a training session with you, as it is I don't remember how I got back to my quarters"

"You passed out and I took you there for you to get sleep that you so desperately needed"

"Indeed"

And so a month passed relatively easily with them tracking Punch's signal, the group had sustained injuries that needed treatment, but that was always after a battle for the most part, except for the one cooking incident that was completely accidental in that no one was expecting such a huge electrical discharge at the same moment as someone was going to turn on some cooking supplies

"Okay, looks like he's either escaped or they simply left him at this location since it hasn't moved in two days"

"Okay then, we'll be ready for anything"

"Good, now then small team or entire team?"

"Entire team, we don't know what we'll find down there"

"Right, it will be at least six more hours before we get to his location though"

"Enough time to get some sleep and relax"

"Sleep?"

"Do you realize just how long it's been since I had a nap?"

"Clair..."

"Not my fault all the other EDC officers can't seem to fix a computer on this ship"

"They should be able to"

"Yeah I know, but since they apparently couldn't I had to go inside the ship to fix it myself"

"Actually...that's not entirely true, because Optimus is right, normally we can fix a computer no problem, all of us have to be able to, however this time what we saw was something we had never seen before, and as such since you were the one raised by the Cybertronians we were hoping you had and could handle the problem"

"Thus why you insisted on the recording"

"Exactly, that will be used as a training video in the future, but like I said since it was something we had never seen before we decided to leave it to Kerenai-Masaki instead of potentially making the problem worse by fixing it wrong"

"That makes sense then"

"Okay, well I still need some sleep, as such don't wake me up until an hour before we arrive at the earliest, half hour at the latest, First Aid can handle medical conditions until then"

Six hours later they landed at the place that Punch's locator beacon stated he was generally in and left the ship searching on foot, quickly finding him, and that's when they ran into a big problem

"Hey Punch, it's..."

Clair moved one of the officers out of the way of the shot that he had fired at the EDC since the officer that had spoken had known Punch and was close to retirement now, but wanted to end his time with one last mission to finally bring back someone long thought dead

"Everyone retreat!"

"I am  _not_ leaving him here"

"We aren't, however there is such a thing as a tactical retreat where we regroup and make an actual plan of attack, and besides that, we're going to need Cybertronian help to hold him down if needed"

"Okay...okay you win I forgot about such a tactic for a moment"

"Don't blame you, but for now retreat"

The group retreats a bit while contacting the rest of the group since they had split up to search for Punch, fortunately it had been decided that both Blaster and Soundwave would be part of the mission just in case, because while normally one communication officer would remain behind they had a feeling they would split up during the search and as such realized both officers were needed, besides there were others that were trained on communications as well, it was just that those two were the primary communication officers

"Okay found him, basic plan is to surround him and then try and calm him down"

"You do realize no plan survives first contact?"

"I know that, how do you think I survived seven years of terrorist activity without revealing the truth, even under influence of heavy drugs?"

"Okay just making sure you understood, but either way good general plan"

The group surrounds Punch and tries to calm him down and sure enough the plan didn't survive first contact, but Clair instantly thought of another plan

"Right, Ryoma!, Rumble!, Frenzy! I need a three way distraction, Ravage! Steeljaw! I want you two to take him from behind while I attack from the front, the rest of you keep a look out and step in if you have to, those who decide to help with Punch keep your weapons on stun, the rest of you set to kill depending on what enemy we're facing"

"You sure this will work?"

"Got a better plan?"

"No, but what I'm still wondering is why he's attacking us now since he obviously was able to send those coordinates"

"Not sure, but that's what I aim to find out" (under her breath) "hope it isn't that one poison that will force us to kill him"

Clair brought out a device from her pack and First Aid recognized it for what it was, a specialized scanning device that allowed Clair to connect directly to one of her family members to do a quick and immediate medical diagnostic in regards to mind control or a virus of some sort, it also gave her the ability so she so chose to knock them out temporarily. She soon quickly gets on to Punch and makes a connection and runs the device, as soon as it beeps she let's out a small sigh of relief because the device revealed that Punch had only been exposed to the poison she was most concerned about only once, and it was in a small enough dose that all it really did was give him a slight disconnected feeling once the poison actually beat his systems. She also discovered that a virus was now affecting him, but fortunately it wasn't as dangerous as the poison she was concerned about, this virus mimicked a Cybertronian virus that induced confusion and their version of fevers, as such Punch wasn't actually really aware that he was being rescued and instead thought he was still in enemy hands, fortunately First Aid could handle this after she knocked him out temporarily

*First Aid I need you to keep a grip on him because he's going to go down hard and fast once I input the code, then you can take care of him, by the way the poison I was concerned about isn't in play, but be careful because he  _is_  affected by a virus, but one that you can handle easily*

First Aid gets behind Punch and holds him firmly while Clair inputs the commands to put Punch under, quickly getting onto First Aid's shoulder so that he could safely put Punch down without worrying about Clair's safety. Once Clair was on the shoulder Optimus came over and gave her his hand so that he could safely get her to the ground without shocking people about her ability to jump from such a distance to the ground

*Clair, set up a perimeter while First Aid handles the virus, and be prepared for...*

*Emotional explosions over the coming days and weeks? I know Optimus*

Suddenly Clair's comlink went wide open

"Clair there's a call for you from Canada, and they're speaking French which I don't speak"

"Right, I'll get back to the ship and take the call since I can speak Canadian French, which is helpful in other places, like France which I needed once"

"Oh?"

"Remember that first summer after we agreed to me switching back and forth between the schools and countries?"

"Oh yeah, your American school planned a trip to France and you went"

"Exactly, knowing Canadian French was really, really helpful at one point, full story that I never told you later though"

Clair takes the phone call and finds out that what happened was that an American citizen had run into trouble and unfortunately a translator, even one of her translator machines weren't available and as such she did a brief translation period until an official translator could arrive and take over

"So about that story?"

"Right"

_A few years ago_

"So who wants to head to a restaurant for lunch?"

"I'm game, I need the food it's getting close to my meal time and I am starting to feel a little shaky"

"Right, then let's get to it"

They start heading to the restaurant when suddenly they witness a crime and also help stop it, and that's when Clair knowing Canadian French really came in handy

*I need to question everyone and then you'll be free to go*

*Officer, you need an official English translator, all of us are American students traveling through France on a school event*

*But you speak French quite well*

*I'm fluent in Canadian French, but since this is official business we need an official translator*

*Quite right, I'll make the call*

And so the officer calls for a translator to his location and Clair speaks up again

*Officer, while we're waiting do you possibly have some food?, one of my fellow students is a diabetic, and while there isn't an emergency with her condition right now she is starting to get a little shaky, and because we don't know how long it will be she needs something as quickly as possible*

*I'll be right back*

The officer goes back to their car and brings out a box

*Here, they can have some donuts while they are waiting for the translator*

The student eats a few donuts and the translator arrives, and after a relatively brief question and answer session the group was released to continue about their business, their first order of which was of course going to the restaurant for an actual meal

_Present_


	45. Chapter 45

"Because all we were required to do was make a witness statement I didn't think you would need to know about the incident so I never said anything"

"That makes sense then"

"Oh by the way, once we're on the ship I  _am_  going to keep myself in the armory until further notice, meals not withstanding"

"Oh?"

Ryoma spoke up

"Oh, I heard about this from your fellow officers, apparently she does a basic daily cleaning and maintenance of her weapon, once a week she strips it down to do deep cleaning, and then once a month she'll keep herself in the police armory and cleans the entire armory at the station"

"He's right, others also keep an eye on the equipment in the armory at the station, but I think I'm the only one who really field strips them and does proper cleaning and maintenance once a month"

"Okay, but that happened just before the ship was put into service"

"True, but I am mainly doing this to keep everyone safe from my own emotional explosions, it's why the one time a month cleaning at work is so random, sometimes I do it because I have yet to do so and other times I do it as a means to get my emotions under control before I spar with anyone since we don't always have access to training robots, and Rumble, Frenzy, my emotions might make it too dangerous for even  _you_  to safely spar with"

"Whoa, your emotions haven't been that bad in a while"

"No kidding, but it is what it is, as such I'll see you guys later for meal, if absolutely necessary I'll let you know to just leave a plate for me just inside the door and I'll eat at my convenience"

"Oh no you don't, some of those weapons are slightly new Clair and we don't know how they'll react to accidental exposure to food or liquids"

"How new are we talking about?"

"Just as you started police academy new"

"Okay never mind then, let me know it's meal time and then let me decide if I'm ready to eat or not, if I decline then just leave left overs in the fridge"

"We'll see you later then, maybe one your emotions are under better control you can handle a spar"

"Probably"

It would turn out that Clair would remain in the armory until dinner and when she came out First Aid was also there having done what he could for Punch in that time period, and he did a quick scan as did two other members of her family and found her emotions to be under better control

"Looks like that time with the weapons did the trick"

"Yep, how Punch?"

"He'll be fine, he's still unconscious per my decision because of how much pain he would be in, and there's still more work to be done on Earth, but overall given a few days to two weeks he'll be back on full duty"

"Can you tell us..."

"No he can't, don't forget guys that First Aid still has patient/doctor confidentiality to abide by, just like normal human doctors, what he just said is stretching what he's allowed to say about his patient, and that's only because of the fact that we need to know his condition in case we're attacked on the way home and some of you remember him from when I was little"

"Wait, he'll be unconscious the entire trip back to Earth?"

"Unless I see sudden drastic improvement yes, his condition...let's just say that what you saw on the surface was relatively minor compared to when I did an entire systems check"

" _That_  was minor?"

"Yes, it was minor"

"But he..."

"Oh yeah, he looked bad, but like First Aid said there was more going on than you think, he...First Aid can they know what we were concerned about and what was actually discovered or not?"

"Sorry Clair, even under these circumstances they can't know, not unless..."

"Unless he comes up as wartime Punch instead of peacetime Punch"

"Exactly"

"Why is that so important?"

"Because depending on his state of mind should he awake on the ship he would be very,  _very_  dangerous to us humans that we would be unprepared for if not for this meeting, and unfortunately only Ryoma and I are able to handle him for reasons that are unfortunately classified"

"Except we're still in the dark about a lot"

"True, but this is an example of giving you as much information as we can while still keeping to medical rules, let's just say that what was discovered and what is keeping him down is less dangerous than what it potentially could have been if he comes up in wartime mentality, because quite frankly if it was the other problem I won't be able to take him down again and we were prepared for other actions if it had been the more concerning problem, for everyone's safety"

"Other actions?"

(Sighs) "Optimus, First Aid?"

"Yes"

"No...sorry Prime, but unfortunately I have my reasons for keeping even that classified until needed"

"Very well First Aid, sorry but we can't tell you what those other actions would have been or might have to be"

Clair switched to Cybertronian instantly knowing that they had to discuss Punch in private yet public at the same time because of what had been discovered

*First Aid, Optimus I know we can't tell them what we want due to patient/doctor confidentiality but I am wondering if we should give them some background on the poison I was concerned about, and also some background on why he's been gone for so long in the first place, I didn't even know about the chip until it activated and one officer remembers him having done a few missions with him, that officer might understand better than the younger officers what we are concerned about, and let's not forget if he  _does_  come up suddenly in wartime mental condition than we will have to kill him if it's because of the virus because we all know what that virus does to a Cybertronian if it brings them to the mental point of the war still going on*

*Sorry Clair but we can't do that either because of how classified his original mission was, and it's why we thought him dead in the first place*

(Sighs) *I am really, really starting to hate the fact that I seem to be the only one with security clearance needed on this ship*

*We know Clair and that wasn't intentional, however you know why Ryoma isn't cleared even as an EDC officer trained to take us down like you can*

*I know, but seriously I am really starting to think Winspector needs my clearance level to handle everything that has been going on lately, even if it's only temporary security clearance*

*We'll have to talk about it later Clair, right now we have other concerns to think about, and let the rest of the team know those concerns*

*Right, back to English then*

While that was happening the other EDC officers, minus the one close to retirement became slightly annoyed that they were missing part of a conversation that they probably should be part of, but the oldest EDC officer had recognized what was truly going on and ignored the conversation with a practiced ease that not many could claim, because he had been involved in briefings where the Cybertronians suddenly needed to talk about a private matter, yet in a public area, aka the meeting since there were still things that needed to be talked about in said meeting that they hadn't gotten to yet

"Sorry, anyhow there are other things to discuss besides Punch, and that's the area we are currently in, we will have to be on standby at all times for the moment"

"What for?"

"The area of space we are forced to travel through is known for piracy, and unfortunately there isn't much we or our allies can do about it"

"Then why travel through such a space?"

"Unfortunately for resource reasons, normally we would have enough fuel to get home from where we found Punch but unfortunately...well everyone remembers the kitchen fire and me needing to fix the computers correct?"

"What is it about those two incidents that makes us needing this area for resource reasons?"

"Because it turns out that the fire drained power from the ship, and the computer made matters worse in that the longer it took me to repair that computer the more power other computers needed to keep the ship functional because while that computer wasn't the  _main_  computer it was still relatively important, that means we don't have enough energy to get back to Earth. We are heading for an allied planet that will give us enough energy to get back home but the area they live in means going through pirate space because of how expansive piracy is"

"So how many days?"

"Uh...about three if I calculated right, if I haven't well..."

"We get there when we get there if you haven't calculated correctly"

"Exactly, and by the way I already made the report to the EDC on Earth, and they said they expect a report in three days to check on us, sooner if an incident happens and to do so without completely draining our energy if at all possible"

"When did you have time to do that?"

"Remember I said I needed to wash up before I actually came to eat?"

"Yeah"

"While I was doing that I made contact with Earth and made my report, I had already done the calculations while waiting for us to land since you did wake me up an hour before we landed on the planet Punch was at"

"Oh, okay, why didn't you make contact then?"

"No time, I barely had time to finish the calculations before we arrived"

"It took you that long for simple calculations?"

"No, it took that long for a very complex series of calculations that needed to be done"

"Well for now..."

Suddenly First Aid looks tense and has only moments to speak

"Punch is awake, we're about to find out his mental state"

Suddenly they heard Punch in the hallways and he was  _livid_ , he was also speaking in Cybertronian

*Quintessons! Just wait until I get my hands on you, you will regret the day you captured me and tortured me to try and get my secrets!*

Optimus and the others go outside and Optimus tries the only thing he had that might work

*Stand down Punch!*

That stops Punch in his tracks and they could see that he was  _looking_  at them and slowly he spoke in English seeing humans

"Prime...is that really you?"

"It's me Punch"

"Blaster...Soundwave...why aren't one of you on Earth or Cybertron like you should be?"

"They have their reasons Punch"

Punch looks down at that voice and everyone could tell that he was startled

"Clair...you've grown into a wonderful young women in the time that I've been gone...though I think you might have had some unusual trials if I truly recognize the look in your eyes"

"It's good to see you Punch"

"And it's good to see that the EDC has grown while I was away, and I look forward to meeting all of you at a later time...meanwhile since I know I am safe and around comrades, I respectfully turn myself back into your care First Aid...but first, why is everyone looking like they're ready for a fight?"

"It was the condition we found you in Punch we...we weren't sure what your mental state would be when you woke up"

"Meaning you weren't sure if I would think we were still in a war or not"

"Exactly"

"Oh by the way Punch two things, first is that we're going to need a full report considering what you said in Cybertronian, the second is that once you are cleared for full duty we're going to have a spar"

"What for?"

"You know the rules as well as I do Punch"

"Oh...that, I should have known you would invoke the rules"

"Yes you should have"

"Very well, for now though I still have much healing to do"

"Yes, you do, be ready for the ship to land on an allied planet in three days, also prepare for possible trouble"

"What for?"

"Pirates"

"Right, necessary?"

"Unfortunately it is"

"Understood, I'll do what I can in whatever state I am in if we're attacked"

"Okay, oh and no contact with either Earth or Cybertron for the moment, it's why we're in pirate space in the first place"

"Energy drain from something?"

"Two incidents actually, neither one really the fault of anyone"

"Who says that...the computer..."

"I rechecked the video while doing the complex calculations, I had to do so actually and it turns out that there's a design flaw that was never caught because it's so minuet that even Cybertronian scanners would have had a hard time catching it, the  _only_  reason I was able to repair the computer is because the flaw lead to damage that I was familiar enough with to do ad-hock repairs that didn't make the situation worse than what it was"

"And we discovered on our own that an electrical fault of some sort that caused that electrical discharge in the first place, that and quite frankly let's face it that kitchen was a hazard to anyone after we stripped it down for repairs"

"Yeah...stupid rats, we're lucky they didn't cause the discharge themselves because it would have been a lot worse if they had"

"How much worse is a lot worse?"

"You...really don't want to know actually, trust me on that one"

Three days later they arrived on the planet without incident and that's when Clair felt a pull she hadn't felt since she had fully realized her freedom, and considering the damages to the ship she knew she had the time needed

"You guys start the repairs, there's something I need to take care of, something I have been needing to do for some time"

Clair goes to a specific building and walks in and meets the receptionist there

"Name and business?"

"Clair Elisa Kerenai-Masaki, but you would know me better as Clair of Cybertron, I wish a meeting with the council on a matter that has been delayed for too long"

"Very well, just a moment"

Clair waits about twenty minutes and then is let in to see the council

"Clair of Cybertron, we haven't heard from you in too long, what is it you need to meet with us about?"

"I petition for rights of The Hunt"

"Why do you make that serious petition?"

"I was hurt and hurt my family for seven years, and then denied myself the right for The Hunt for another five to six years"

"Why have you denied yourself this for so long?"

"I needed to heal first, and then make sure I was established in my job, which means I couldn't take the time necessary for The Hunt"

"Leave and we will discuss your petition, you will know by the end of the day though what our answer is"

"Thank you"

Clair leaves and close to evening she was called back to the building and was before the council once more

"Clair of Cybertron, you request for right of The Hunt has been granted, it will start at dawn tomorrow and end seven days from then per tradition"

"I understand"

Clair leaves to prepare herself for The Hunt, which was a tradition specific to the planet that accidentally gave her her powers, because The Hunt was for those that were hurt for whatever reason off planet and away from the connection of their people since it also weakened their connection to their powers if they weren't at the level that Clair was at. The Hunt was where the person granted permission hunted a specific animal one day for each year or month that they were hurt, they were only allowed to stun the animal except on the last day where they were allowed a kill, as a symbol of the fact that they have healed from their wounds through symbolic killing of their enemies by killing the specific animal. There would be a feast the night that the person came back with the kill as it's own symbol of the people welcoming back the citizen that was emotionally lost to them until the ceremony of The Hunt was completed. While meditating in preparation she simply revels in the energy of the planet that only she could feel due to her powers, she also before meditation told everyone that she would be going outside the city for a week on a personal reason and that she would be out of contact while outside the city, part of the reason why she didn't mention The Hunt was because when she got back she found a data pad detailing how things would work while she was gone and one of them was that her group would be told the night of the first day what was going on, and what all that entailed because it turned out that while the person that was doing the ritual was out, those in the city also had preparations to do to properly welcome person back from The Hunt because of just how intense The Hunt could be on the person doing The Hunt and any family members of the petitioner. It was also because of the fact that they were celebrating someone finally truly coming home and as such it was a really big party that needed preparation time, which is why petitions sometimes failed, because sometimes someone isn't gone long enough for the proper celebration

"Clair, you might want to go to bed now if you're getting up early tomorrow"

"True, thanks Ryoma, how's the rest of my family?"

"Doing okay, Punch is still healing but doing much better and the others are starting to relax now that they don't have the stress of keeping everyone safe on the ship"

"And the ship?"

"Longer than the two weeks you estimated it would take, the engineers on this planet said it will take at least a month, but at least we can have regular contact with Earth and Cybertron now"

"Good, I'll set an alarm to wake myself up, and once I leave remember that I will have no contact for a week"

"Right...Clair are you sure you can't explain what's going on?"

"Sorry, it's personal in a way"

"Fine, just...just be careful okay?"

"Don't worry I will be"

A week later when it was just starting to get into the later hours of the afternoon Clair came back and her family and the EDC officers that knew her best could tell that she had actually healed emotionally, because The Hunt was a grueling thing physically and emotionally for those that were actively part of The Hunt, and for family it was hard emotionally being separated from family members but knowing it would ultimately do them the most good. They would discover that Clair no longer had claustrophobia but she  _did_  still have PTSD, The Hunt was a chance to heal emotionally but mental health issues were another thing entirely

"We should have done this when you first came home"

"Maybe, but I get the feeling that delaying it for as long as I did to do what healing I have already done has actually amplified the effects of The Hunt, but I don't know that for sure"

"Actually Clair is correct, the healers have discovered that those that delay The Hunt to start the healing process themselves do ultimately heal more than those that petition and are granted rights for The Hunt as soon as they return home, though her being different biologically also plays a small part because different species heal differently, and we're sorry it hasn't helped your mental health condition"

"That's okay, to truly be healed emotionally, and to no longer deal with claustrophobia is enough for me, I never expected The Hunt to fix everything, but I realized when we arrived that it was needed for some reason"

"What was still needed emotionally anyways?...that is if you feel comfortable telling us"

"My guilt, even though my family said they didn't blame me for my choices, and even though I had to a point accepted that I still felt guilty for what I did not only to them but to innocent lives I had to destroy to keep myself alive so that I could complete my self assigned mission, there was actually also still fear that I didn't truly destroy the terrorists I was forced to join that was also dealt with"

"And probably emotions you kept hidden from yourself while with them as well"

"Hey therapy helped a great deal in regards to  _those_  emotions"

"But most likely not completely"

"Yeah I will have to give you that"

"And that's why her delaying as much as she has turned out to be a good thing, she needed time to start to see your point of view, and if she was claustrophobic than it would have been too dangerous for her on a ship initially, if I am understanding that situation correctly"

"You're right, I would have gone straight into a panic attack had I tried this as soon as I was free from the terrorists, as it is there were still a lot of situations that made me uncomfortable, some you wouldn't see me do to save my life and as for the journey to find Punch and then get here? I took to using the special EDC sedatives at times in order to cope so that I  _wouldn't_  have a panic attack from feeling confined in too small a space for too long"

"But now you understand why The Hunt is so important to us, and why you felt that call when you first arrived on the planet, and in all honesty we were wondering when another petition would happen since there hasn't been one for...about four Earth years I believe"

"A little under how long it's been since I was free, which was...let's see one year simply healing, four going back and forth for socialization, another year training in the academy and about a year and a half to two years at my current job...it's been about six and a half to seven years since then...wow that's as long as I was with the group"

"And that's why it was so intense and so helpful, because it's been the same amount of time or close enough that you were hurting, that's also part of what helps those who delay a time"

"By the way, the ship?"

"Completely repaired, now all that's left is refueling it so that you can make it back to your home planet"

"Thanks for everything guys"

"No problem Clair, and simply come back to visit us at some point if you can"

"Don't worry I will, this time was due to me being an EDC officer, next time will be because I have time off and want to visit you guys"

"You're going to need a decent amount of time accrued"

"Don't worry I have that covered"

"Clair..."

"Don't worry, it's nothing so dangerous as working overtime to the point of needing medical leave, however do you remember when my unit did the special undercover training for the month?"

"What of it?"

"Both the EDC and police separately decided that it was considered on duty and hazardous as well, which means, thanks to the new rules, that that training alone accrued a month of leave based on how dangerous it would have been if things had gone wrong and it also turns out that I somehow accrued two extra months while at the academy and was never told about it until right before this assignment"

"Which means you have the time now if you want"

"True, but I want dad and Daichi to come as well, to experience a part of me that very few get to experience"

"And Daichi has school right now"

"Exactly I'm going to wait until he has summer vacation to visit"

"And Masaki?"

"Oh, he has a long standing invitation to visit here and long standing leave approved for when he does"

"And how did he earn  _that_  kind of invitation and leave that I am unaware of?"

"My first year of freedom after the terrorists, somehow this lot found out about him though they didn't seem to recognize my new legal name at the front desk, the person in charge of the Japanese police station he is based in instantly gave him leave when he received the letter of invitation, for the EDC you know full well that he's accrued enough leave safely"

"True, he has both sick days and normal leave time that he needs to use up soon or lose it, which means you should be near to losing that leave as well and Daichi won't have summer break for another few months"

"Except that it was agreed that the leave I accidentally accrued is leave that isn't going to ever be use it or lose it leave so that I can properly rest when I declare the need for it"

"So why did they decide that?"

"Something about how the training mission earned period was important health wise and the academy earned period was because since I wasn't even an official officer yet that is leave that can't be taken away, some sort of rule that's only a few years old since that was the first time that situation ever came up"

"Okay then, now time for the journey home"

"Yes, and this time I won't need sedatives since I am no longer claustrophobic which in my mind is a good thing"

"Agreed"

They soon get back to earth and as soon as they saw her both Daichi and Masaki knew something was different, but Masaki was the one who could put a name to it instantly

*You've finally healed all your mental and emotional wounds*

*Not completely, I still and will always have PTSD*

*But for you to have healing for the rest of your wounds is a good thing*

*You can't get an argument from me in that regards...now then how are you with English Daichi?*

*Declared completely fluent*

*That's amazing buddy I thought you wouldn't reach that for a few months yet*

*I know I thought the same as well*

Three months later Daichi was finished with school and Clair asked a question that surprised them

"How would you two like to visit the planet that finally healed me?"

"Is it allowed?"

"Yes Daichi, both dad and I have enough leave time accrued for such a thing and besides that dad is also an EDC officer albeit one who hasn't actually left the planet, but still an EDC officer which makes you an EDC kid, I think it's time you started getting a true EDC kid education in, and as for dad you never know if you'll be asked off planet on an EDC assignment and a peaceful planet is just the place to start"

"Will you be interrupted like when you came home?"

"No the journey will not be interrupted like when I came home"

_Three months ago_

The three started for home when suddenly they heard an explosion and saw multiple emergency vehicles and heard over the radio of a massive casualty event meaning that they were also needed. Once there the two Winspector units suited up

"Suit up!"

"Mobile armor on!"

"My team will take the bottom half of the building"

"Then we'll take the top half"

The group rescues a lot of people and then helps the regular firefighters fight the blaze, and discover it isn't as easy as they thought it would be, which meant they all had to leave the suits eventually, because while the time limit was no longer applicable, heat exhaustion was, and they were dangerously close to overheating in their suits by the time they took them off and continued to either fight the blaze or traffic control. They were going to just go back to the police station but unfortunately for them a paramedic who had been going back and forth the entire time realized what had happened and pulled medical rank on them

"We're going back to the station now"

"Oh no you guys don't, you're going to the hospital for a medical clearance first"

"We're fine sir"

"Sorry but I'm afraid I have to pull medical rank, seeing as how I have been on scene just as long as you guys technically and you were  _dangerously_  close to heat exhaustion in those suits of yours before you switched to other duties"

"Do you even have medical rank over us?"

"Normally I would be forced to say no, however right now I do indeed have that authority, given to me by a Cybertronian name Galvatron a week ago that lasts for an entire month, something about a higher rate of trouble recently and probably needing it while they get something in place which he estimates will take a month"

(Sighs) "I think I know what the issue and it's resolved answers are, but in any case he's right dad, he does indeed hold medical rank over us, which means we're going to the hospital whether we like it or not"

"Fine we'll go"

They go to the hospital and are soon cleared

_Present_


	46. Chapter 46

"That's good to hear"

"Indeed it is, at least this time I won't need a plan A-D, or even more plans"

"I remember hearing that story, you went through a lot of plans quickly that day didn't you?"

"Yes I did, and just how did you hear about them?"

"School, it was for a different reason that we were told why it was a good idea to have multiple back up plans, but either way your situation was used as the example"

"Okay then, oh by the way we're going on an EDC shuttle, Captain Faireborn and a few other officers have business on that planet and offered a ride at least to said planet though we'll have to make our own arrangements to get back home on time for your schooling Daichi"

"Okay then, maybe...maybe I can get more EDC kid training in"

"Possibly, oh and you and I are going to be Aikido sparring once settled"

"What for?"

"Two reasons, first off I want to assess how you're doing myself and second of all I rarely if ever stick to one style of fighting so it's good practice for me to do that on occasion so that I know how to stick to one style if I ever have to"

"Okay, that makes sense I guess, see you when I get settled then"

Three hours later Daichi was obviously not settling well to space travel and Clair sighed and slipped into Japanese deliberately

*Daichi are you sick?*

*Yes, don't...don't know why...only just settled temporarily I think*

*Though not common there are times when an EDC officer or their children are just simply not suited for space travel, there are remedies to help and also a special test that needs to be done to see if it's simply because this is the first time you're in space or if you really aren't capable of space travel ever, because that affects what assignments dad, or even I will get if you are ever put into my care*

*When can that be done?*

*Immediately, food will be served in about an hour and it takes that long for the medication to start working due to how it's supposed to work*

It would turn out that what was wrong with Daichi was a completely different issue than what most suspected, and a long term complication that no one thought about

"Clair, Daichi, do you remember the time Daichi had a combination of Lyme disease and Malaria?"

"Yeah, those medical expenses were rough enough that it took time for me to rebuild my reserves, but light enough that dad would have been able to handle it via payment installments"

"Turns out that the treatment for his condition makes him slightly more sensitive to cosmic radiation which everyone is constantly bombarded with on the ship, even with our shielding it just can't prevent cosmic radiation completely from entering the ship, now then fortunately there are options available that mean that you and Masaki-san don't have many mission limitations Clair, but we  _do_ still need to be careful about his exposure"

"How so?"

"Well for now I can use special medicines that will help, but for the future if something happens we can use the space bridges and he'll be completely safe on all the planets except for one"

"Cybertron?"

"Nope, as you know all planets have an atmosphere including Cybertron that supports life, Sytrict also has an atmosphere that supports human life, but their atmosphere  _enhances_  cosmic radiation for some reason, to the point that even EDC officers who wouldn't have this problem have to take precautions, for Daichi it would just be too dangerous for him to go onto that planet"

"Okay then, how long will the medication take to become effective?"

"About a half hour and that's only so that I can see definite improvements on my readings I am currently getting"

"Okay then, as long as it works, how often?"

"Once a day until we get to the planet"

"Fine, Daichi you know the rules?"

"Yep, dad went over them himself after that incident when you came back healed"

"Got it"

"Rules?"

"Yeah...special family rules that I'm afraid you can't know about, even as the medic of the team"

"Fine, but if it becomes dangerous to his health..."

"Don't worry, you are cleared to know if it's needed, everyone on this ship has a need to know clearance regarding the special family rules in reality, it just rarely comes up is all"

"How long have those rules even been in place?"

"Since long before Daichi came into the picture I can assure you of that" (thinks) " _no one has to know that those family rules were even in place before dad was in the picture, that the special rules were made when the Cybertronians adopted me at a month old, that I lived with those rules my entire life until I was forced to leave my family for seven years_ "

"By the way I need information from you Kerenai-Masaki"

"What about?"

"The reason I was chosen as the medical officer was because this is a final exam of sorts for me, however I need to know if the equipment I have can recognize a HMSPF coma, or if I need to fix the equipment so that I don't accidentally kill someone"

"Wait if this is your final exam where's the higher ranking medical officer?"

"Oh they're around, however there's two issues involved, first issue is that they are a bit busy and as such can't exactly oversee me in person except in an emergency, the second reason is actually classified until further notice"

"Understood, I can show you how you can check the equipment, but I think it is indeed set to alert you to such a coma automatically, however if you are truly alone in the future..."

Clair would go on to explain how to calibrate all medical equipment to meet a medics needs just in case he really was alone in the future and even discussed some other medical procedures that were newer and as such might not actually be known to the young medic through the fact that older medics got the training first for a reason in the EDC. Once they were assured that Daichi was fine now Clair and Daichi went to the meal and Clair whispered Daichi's condition to their dad, now normally they would have openly private conversations in Japanese except this time they were almost positive that one of the EDC officers also knew Japanese so whispering was the best option to keep things private between the family this time. Masaki had thought about learning Cybertronian but Clair and the rest of the family denied his request for several reasons, the main one being that while as family he earned the right to learn it it was better that Masaki didn't learn in case he was ever captured because of his connection to them now, and not knowing Cybertronian meant that he was protected from the worst of any torture by their enemies. Suddenly one of the younger EDC officers came over with his weapon out, but the way they were holding it meant that they weren't planning anything as far as they know

"Hey Clair, something seems wrong with the weapon"

"What is it?"

"Well, first off the sighting is way off and nothing I do can fix it, and it also seems to be jamming a lot as well, and if it jams while needed..."

"Yeah, okay let me check it out and I'll get back to you, is this a newer model?"

"Yep, just off the assembly line before this assignment"

Two hours later everyone's ears were ringing from the shouting that had come from Clair, and from the look on Daichi, Masaki, and Erin's faces they missed some doozy cursing when she slipped into Japanese for a few moments

"Um...is it just me or was she using curse words from  _all_  her known languages?"

"Not entirely sure but most likely considering what was understood when she slipped into Japanese"

Suddenly they actually saw Clair and they could see that she was  _ticked_ and they all got out of her way as quickly as possible, and as soon as she reached the bridge they found out what made her so angry

"Faireborn! Tell me that this weapon wasn't commissioned by you  _or_  the Cybertronians or I swear both groups are going to regret that decision"

(Sighs) "I know that both groups didn't approve it, but we also didn't exactly stop it either, though in all honesty we weren't exactly allowed to try and stop the weapon in the first place"

"Okay tell me  _everything_ "

"Okay, so you know that the EDC develops new weapons every few years as technology improves, you also know that it isn't always designed and made in-house due to restrictions on space at the time weapons are needed. What you don't know is that whenever that happens, normally we have our own people look over the designs and let the United Nations and more specifically the United States know if we ultimately approve or deny those designs. If the designs are not approved the people who created the weapons normally go back to the drawing board, however this time there was some sort of special contract made with the designers that meant that even if a design isn't approved it goes through anyways and the EDC has no say on if we want the weapons or not. No one knows why that's the case but unfortunately there's nothing we can do about it, why do you ask?"

"Because this weapon is  _designed_  to kill an EDC officer by not functioning correctly, more specifically you can't fix your sights and the weapon jams way too easily, I recommend keeping to your backup weapons until further notice since I checked the armory and there's only the newer weapons available for some odd reason"

"So how long were you looking at the weapon?"

"Two hours of taking it apart, putting it back together, taking it apart again, making my own modifications, testing those mods to see if anything worked, almost kill myself twice, take it apart and put it back together  _again_ , all while doing some impressive cursing in all my known languages"

"Okay so you tried every trick in the book you could think of to make it safe, very well all weapons but our backup ones are hereby banned from use until we can get rid of the dangerous weapons"

"Good, alert the troops ship-wide or I will"

"Will do Clair, I'll make that announcement now"

Marissa makes that announcement just in time it turns out because suddenly the boarding alarm sounds

"Someone get Daichi to the safe room, Daichi you stay in that safe room no matter what until either dad or I come get you, not even for Captain Faireborn this time"

"But..."

"Don't argue with me mister"

"Understood Clair"

"Good, now go!"

As soon as Daichi is gone Marissa talks to Clair

"Why not even me?"

"Because of what you might need to do depending on the enemy"

"An enemy claiming to be me, that's what you're worried about"

"Exactly"

"They're heading towards medical!"

"I'm on it"

Clair's eyes go hazel signifying that she was channeling her powers and soon afterwords a sword was in her hands and she cut through whatever enemy was in her way to get to the medical section and protect it with her life if called for

"Stop the human with the sword!"

"There's no stopping me creeps I  _will_  protect those I care for with my life"

Clair soon realized that for some reason the sword wasn't so effective as she was hoping in cutting down enemies once she reached the medical bay and as such quickly switched to knives which worked out much better, she also let loose some of her less damaging ranged attacks as well knowing that the ship's integrity needed to remain intact for everyone to live

"Clair I do believe that you're able to take care of this alone now"

"Nope, I am only just holding the line, if something happens to me and I go down you'll be last line of defense"

"Okay never mind"

Eventually the battle ends and everyone gives off a sigh of relief as reports soon come in that all sections of the ship held and there was very little damage to the ship and very few injuries with zero casualties, and the injuries ultimately weren't that severe

"They'll have to stay in medical for the rest of the trip only so that I can keep an eye on potential infections, which for some reason are really unpredictable in space, but they're basically okay"

"Yeah, the medics in the EDC are working on figuring that out but unfortunately they aren't getting any where's for the moment, but at least things aren't serious as long as they don't develop an infection, because I am assuming that treatment is more complicated as well in space"

"Yep, as in it either doesn't work or takes twice as long for you to see any results, a few people have actually died because of the fact that we can't keep up with how infections are affected in space"

"Figures"

"Now then about Daichi..."

"Right, dad isn't able to get him at the moment so it has to be me"

"Why is Masaki unable to get your brother?"

"Two words for you, leaking engine"

"Since when is your dad a mechanic?"

"He isn't, but he's learned how to do a patch job that should hold until we get to the planet"

"Okay"

Clair goes to the safe room and reveals that it is indeed her to Daichi. Back when Daichi was adopted Masaki and Clair realized that there needed to be a way to identify themselves to Daichi in an emergency situation where he was told to hide and not come out for anyone but themselves and figured out that a knock code and code phrase that was used every time and changed each time was what would be the best defense since only the three of them would know the codes as proof of identity


	47. Chapter 47

"Daichi it's Clair, you can come out now"

With that Clair does three slow knocks, two medium and a slow, and then two more medium knocks and also says the current code phrase

"Corona bursts"

Daichi comes out without any weapons knowing that it was indeed Clair and talks in Japanese due to the stress of the situation

*Where's dad?*

*Repairing the engine, or well it's more of a patch job than anything but we're leaking coolant which isn't good so he's taking care of that problem*

*Okay, are we going to run into anymore danger?*

*We shouldn't Daichi, we're almost to our destination in the first place so hopefully the rest of the trip should be peaceful, if a bit slow due to engine damage*

*See dad?*

*Okay we'll go see dad*

They interrupt Masaki who was honestly glad for the interruption due to the fact that he was exhausted and actually needed the break. Three days later they finally arrived at the planet and Daichi and Masaki met the people who allowed Clair the chance to truly heal from the seven years of emotional torment she went through with the terrorist group she had joined to protect her family

"We are glad that we were able to help one of our own, that is what The Hunt is all about"

"By the way, since I have gone have there been any other petitioners, because I can tell that something is going on right now"

"No there are no current petitioners, though there was one just last month, one we thought would never ask for The Hunt but one who needed it just as much as you did, if not more in some ways. Today though is a festival, a very special festival that is for remembering our past and how we came to develop our powers in the first place. You see Clair you're not the only one who developed their powers, we too over time developed the powers through our water, though it was slow to be noticed at first, over time we have discovered that our rotation, the radiation from the sun, and our unique atmosphere created the conditions for us to develop our powers. Now of course everyone is born with the powers but initially it only came about whenever someone drank the water at specific locations, then it was specific times of the year, slowly though all our people were born with the powers though it wasn't known until about three years old when we are just started to explore more than our own homes. Tonight is when we celebrate how that knowledge came about and saved us from a worse fate than you can ever know"

"Can I...can I participate in it?"

"Yes, we only need to get you up to speed on what you are able to do and you can actively participate"

"Wait, is this why Faireborn insisted on coming this time?"

"No I have a different mission on this planet, but it appears that my mission will be delayed at least for one day while the celebration happens"

"Two days Captain Faireborn, today and tomorrow because while only today is the celebration tomorrow is the aftermath of that celebration and those you need to meet won't be available"

"Understood"

That night Clair participated in the festivities actively in that there was a part where everyone used their abilities to either defend the crowds against the flames or help light the fire, but Clair did both as one who had reached the highest level of abilities, first she shielded everyone including those closest to the fires, then she used her powers to make a hole where the stack was to give them a better foundation, and then she used both a ball of energy and weapons formed from her powers to light her side of the stack once the signal was given to do so

"Wow I never realized what Clair could do"

"She keeps a lot from you still Daichi, mostly because you're young yet and need the proper time to mature, you know the basics of her story, but you'll have to wait a few more years to get the full story out of her, and even then I don't think you'll ever truly understand the impact those years had on her. I know for a fact that even I don't know everything and I went through a year of fighting by her side to get her even remotely ready to face the world again"

Suddenly though everyone got a performance they weren't expecting. Clair had long since realized that she could manipulate her shields which was what allowed her to protect just internal organs or oddly shaped buildings, more recently though she had started playing with that manipulation to see if she could do so with objects like water or fire inside the shields because she realized that it might be useful if she was ever in a disaster zone and there were young kids around that needed something to take their minds off their current situation, at least with water for the most part, the fire was mainly in case she needed to be able to get people out fast. As she had discovered she could indeed manipulate water and fire inside her shields and make a performance out of either object, and she was now doing so fully with the fire that fanned out from the stack they had lit, but only Masaki had noticed something about her performance from the start and had to point it out to others

"Okay I'm impressed"

"Agreed, never seen her do that before"

"I think...I think this is something more recent that she's discovered"

"You sure about that Masaki? Because it looks to me like she's been doing this for a long time"

"You forget two different things then, first off her powers are a natural extension of her and second of all she's been protecting differently shaped buildings for a long time and I believe that over time she's learned to shape her shields around the building shapes unless needed otherwise. I think she's learned to do this with fire and possibly water but it's still shaky at best and dangerous at worse, look at how long it takes for her to form anything and how brief it is and you'll start seeing a pattern"

Slowly everyone else in the EDC noticed what Masaki had noticed from the start. Clair  _looked_  like it was taking concentration to form the shapes she was creating with the fire, they also noticed that it took up to a minute for the complete the shape and it only lasted a few seconds at most, plus they started noticing that there were a few failures as well in that the shape obviously wasn't completed before the fire was out

"Okay you win she is struggling, but if you don't notice Masaki she also makes sure everyone remains completely safe while she's learning this new skill of hers"

"Oh I knew that, but you don't know my daughter like I do, if she loses complete concentration for even a moment while she does this many people could get hurt unintentionally by her"

"Oh"

"Yeah, oh"

Clair soon declares the performance over and that's when Masaki finds out that there were a few others in the crowd who had noticed just how shaky her control was and were actually supplementing her shields with their own just in case she ever truly lost control over her powers and the performance

"Clair you shouldn't do that kind of stuff again with a crowd until you have excellent control"

"I know, but I felt that I should do it and I knew it was safer practicing with people here than at home, calculated risk I'll admit but one that I think was needed"

"We'll make sure you get more practice before you leave then, however..."

"I know, if I haven't perfected it by the time vacation is over with I will have to continue practicing in private at home in controlled conditions, I know the routine guys it's been that ways since my powers first emerged"

"Okay"

Three days later Marissa started on her mission, unfortunately it would be cut short with trouble that would ultimately take many lives, including five EDC officers. It all started with a meeting interruption

"Guys, hate to interrupt this meeting but...we need help"

"What kind of help?"

"The dam broke and now..."

"Right, Captain I can't risk your people but..."

"You're not asking I'm volunteering us as of now, I'll call Clair since they're supposed to be relaxing as a family"

Marissa calls Clair and both she and Masaki make sure that Daichi is safe unfortunately he would follow them and get caught in the current along with their dad, fortunately she got her brother, unfortunately the situation still wasn't good and her brother was panicking

*Daichi...Daichi!* (grabs onto him and forces him to face her) *Daichi I promise that I will keep the search going while you evacuate to safety...I  _promise_ , but for now I have to think of your safety since you are a civilian, I can stay since I am an EDC officer but you are not, as such you need to obey evacuation orders, am I understood?*

*But Clair...*

*Am I understood?*

(Sighs) *I understand, though I only go under protest*

*I know, but you know full well that dad would want you safe, as do I, now go, stay with an EDC officer at all times, preferably Captain Faireborn*

*But...*

*Sorry Daichi, I can't fully explain, but while all EDC officers have the authority to sign paperwork regarding you, she's the primary person authorized for paperwork, that's why I want you with her if at all possible*

*Understood, with the Captain or someone she authorizes to take care of me*

*Good, now go!*

Five hours later the dam was shored up and an emergency shelter in place, Clair herself had been ordered by Marissa to get something to eat and possibly some rest, though everyone knew that the last bit might not happen until she worked herself into sleep, but one could only hope

*Clair, where's dad?*

(Sighs) *I don't know Daichi, he was swept further than you in the current, so as of now he's missing, once the water levels go down there's going to be a lot of recovery*

*Including bodies?*

*Where did you hear that?*

*Back home, in Japan there was a flash flood and we lost a few classmates, I accidentally overheard police officers talking about body recovery going to dad's office one day*

*For now don't worry about that, just...just keep the younger ones occupied for the moment, I myself am in desperate need of sleep*

*No kidding I could tell how exhausted you were just from looking at you, now then want to switch back to English when you know full well I am fluent in*

*May be fluent, but Japanese grounds you a whole lot quicker than English and you know it, besides you started it with your stress*

They continue talking for a few more minutes in English since Clair had to tell him a few more things and then she slept for fifteen hours almost straight, and it was needed because what no one knew was that she had actually reached her limit of how long she could stay up due to her secretly keeping an eye out for trouble for the rest of the trip and then not going to sleep after the celebration like she should have

"Hey Clair..."

"Sorry guys, but she's asleep right now"

"No I'm not, just woke up"

"Okay then, as I was saying, Clair the captain wants you to look at something in regards to debris found in the flood waters, says it might help us figure out how to help the people prevent something like this in the future"

"Okay, and the rest of the search?"

"Still going and no sign of him, which right now we're taking as a good thing"

"Agreed, keep Daichi here until confirmation, he apparently overheard talk once in Japan while heading to Winspector headquarters, he doesn't need to see the real thing yet"

"Understood"

Clair goes over to Marissa and finds out they had found a device of some sort along with a piece of the dam that had broken. Clair would take about fifteen minutes with a microscope to analyze both before she revealed her findings

"Well I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that this device is what caused the dam to break because it...changes the composition of materials, the bad news is that there's a possibility that all your dams are in trouble because the materials used in the first place might be susceptible to breaking down easier, but I wouldn't know without having a sample from an intact dam"

"We'll get that sample for you ASAP Clair"

"Thanks Captain Faireborn, now then, while I was out of it how's the recovery process?"

"Slow, I'm sure you already know he has yet to be found or ID'd correct?"

"Yep, was told right before leaving Daichi to watch the little ones"

"Okay then, at least the waters have receded enough for us  _to_  start the recovery process"

"Agreed, now then I'm going to continue the search until I get the sample I need to figure things out"

Five days later Clair was analyzing a sample of another dam when suddenly an EDC officer came in and quietly talked to Marissa who knew that Clair needed interrupted

"Clair...we need you to go with officer Anderson"

"Right"

Clair goes with the officer knowing what it meant, and she's taken to an area that was roped off for privacy and goes to one of the beds that was completely covered and simply takes the sheet off the face and Clair knew, she knew it was her father and that it wasn't faked, naturally she confirmed it with the clan tattoo but once that was confirmed she finally broke down

"So it's him then?"

"Yes it's dad, we need...we need to take him home for a funeral but space travel..."

"We'll take him through the space bridge to Japan"

"Yes...he will be buried in his home country"

"Daichi?"

"Things will take care of themselves once the funeral rites are taken care of"

"Very well then"

Five days later Clair was once again dealing with the last will and testament of her adoptive human father only this time knowing it was permanent. Things were basically the same as last time except that there was one thing added shortly before the trip. Masaki had known his will had needed updated and when he thought about it he realized that Clair and Daichi would be cared for by the EDC and Clair's other job and as such decided that all his belongings except the house and dog would be sold and all the money put into various charities for the American military and the EDC, only certain items meant for Clair and Daichi would not be sold and heirlooms to pass on to their families in the future if they ever had any


	48. Chapter 48

*When will this be done?*

*Soon*

*Very well*

Clair went to the house to make sure that everything was in order and then went back to America with Daichi since her unit was still based in America for the duration due to some issues that meant that the American branch was needed still in America. Two months later Clair received a message through a special device that meant that it was time for Daichi to learn the truth

"Chief I have some things to take care of at the base"

"Understood"

Clair went to pick up Daichi and went to the base and saw some officers training

"Hey, is Captain Faireborn in?"

"As are the leaders"

"Anything important they're meeting about?"

"Just the budget meeting"

"Okay nothing too important than"

One of the officers speaks up

"But the budget is important"

"Not as important as other things...rookie?"

"Trainee still"

"Got it, come on Daichi"

Clair knocks and is given permission and sees the four main people who ran the EDC

"Hey guys, two things, first off I have my units half of the Winspector budget report, second of all Optimus, Rodimus, Galvatron the agreement is basically null and void, he has to know"

"Very well"

"Know what?"

"It's about the Cybertronians, you see they're a lot more connected to us than you think they are"

"How so?"

"That's a story that will take a while, so you'd better get comfortable Daichi"

And so Clair explains the whole story about how the Cybertronians had adopted Clair as an infant and as such made them her first adoptive family and went on to explain everything from there in regards to how she had left them for seven years and how Masaki took care of her for a solid year before adopting her, and also explained the paperwork done shortly before his own adoption that made Masaki legally part of the Cybertronians which meant that the Cybertronians were also Daichi's family

"Is that why they were so close to us during the funeral?"

"Yes that is exactly why"

"I understand"

"Clair what else is going on?"

(Sighs) "I am sure you're aware of the fact that I have intergalactic informants right?, well what you don't know is that I did everything I could to keep those informants safe during those seven years including devising a special way of communicating with them and securing that even further with specialized codes. I just received a coded message that means trouble, and that means Daichi has to know about you guys since he has to stay on base until further notice for his own safety"

"Understood, is there anything you need?"

"Yeah,are the Dinobots here?"

"All but Grimlock"

"Good then the three I need are here, come on Daichi, time to meet some special family"

Clair goes out and shouts three names

"Slag, Snarl, Swoop get over here!"

The three Dinobots greet them and Clair quickly introduces Daichi as her little brother

"Now then, there's trouble and I need you three for three different tasks. Swoop, Daichi is staying on base, if there's an attack I want you to grab him like you did me when I was five and caught in that forest fire and take him to another location that's safe, Snarl you're with me because I need your specific set of skills on this mission, Slag I need you to keep a discreet eye on the police station I work at, if something happens I need you to protect my fellow officers until they can either mount up a defense or backup arrives, if it gets to be too much for you to handle alone you call for backup yourself am I understood?"

"Yes"

"What about me Sludge?"

"Sludge you're probably going to be needed on base since Grimlock isn't here"

"Me Sludge understand"

"Good, Snarl the shuttle will leave in one hour"

"Why wait so long?"

"Two reasons, first off I need to tell my Captain what's going on and let the team know that they're on their own for a bit since my informants will only work with me, the second reason is because it will take that long to coordinate your education and our living situation while I'm away"

"But you already have me living at the base Clair and they have educational facilities"

"True, but there's more involved than you think there might be and my lease is almost up so I have to deal with my landlord to make sure I have a home when I get back, even if I can get base living it isn't the best situation for me to do so"

"But how do you know it won't take you longer?"

"Oh that's easy, I have prearranged agreements with both of them, well more like I have a code with my captain and an agreement with my landlord about letting him know if something is up when it comes time to renew my lease"

"Why do you have a code with your captain?"

"His station has the Winspector unit headquarters, which  _means_  one or all of us will be called to active EDC duty at a moment's notice, like with those wildfires almost two months ago right after I came back from Japan with Daichi and had to go to California for a week leaving him with a fellow officer while I was gone"

"Okay that makes sense then, get going you don't have a lot of time"

"Right"

While Clair headed to the station she thought about the wildfires that called them to active duty shortly after she got home

_Almost two months ago_

"And that's what we're going to need to keep an eye out for the moment, anything else I am unaware of?"

"Actually yes Captain"

"What is it Sean?"

"I have family living in California and it's the dry season over there, considering that you have several officers who are either in the military or EDC and wildfires have the potential to get out of control..."

"Understood, I'll keep an eye on the news then and adjust from there, all military and EDC personal are under code orange until further notice"

"Understood sir"

Clair and the others knew that code orange meant that they were to keep in contact with their military or EDC units and at the same time keep in contact with the Captain for a moment's notice in change in orders. It also meant that they were to keep a go bag ready in their trunks should they receive said orders to ship out to help with the wildfires. Two days later Clair was at the station when she saw the news that stated that things were starting to get out of control because the fires were almost halfway through California and starting to reach Nevada and Oregon both. Seeing that Clair went to the office and made a phone call which let her know the situation they were in and she went immediately to the Captain's office

"Captain a moment of your time please?"

"Sure Kerenai-Masaki, but just a moment, I have a meeting I have to attend soon"

"About the wildfires?"

"No a different issue, why?"

"Because I am here about the wildfires, they're spreading too far and too fast to be under control, my team is needed for evacuations, I don't know about my fellow officers in the National Guard though"

"How soon?"

"Soon as we can get a flight out, which means tonight at the very latest"

"Understood, get your unit, tell them change of plans, and get yourselves to the airport for the earliest flight out to where you're possibly going to be based. I will let the rest of the station know and let the other military officers know that they are in code red while you're in code black"

"Understood sir"

Clair gets the other members of her unit by simply calling them over the radio

"Clair to Mark and Adam come in please"

"Mark here go ahead"

"Adam here go ahead"

"Code black, repeat code black"

"Understood"

The two return to the station and the three head to the airport to find that the earliest flight able to take them would leave in three hours

"Understood, enough time to catch lunch then"

"Agreed"

Meanwhile back at the police station

"Okay everyone, I know some of you aren't on duty until later and some of you are wondering why you've been called in from patrol, but I have something important to announce to everyone"

"Wait where's Winspector?"

"They're part of what I need to announce, as of an hour ago Winspector is in code black while all National Guard members are officially in code red"

"The wildfires?"

"The wildfires"

"Understood sir, report to you if we have contact with them if called to duty ourselves?"

"No it's not a double code black for them, it just means that they're mostly out of communication with the exception of a once a day check-in"

"Double code black?"

"That's specifically for them by the way, if you're called to duty what will you be in?"

"Code gray most likely"

"Understood"

"Wait what about Daichi? I hope she hasn't forgotten about her new permanent duties already"

"Oh, he'll be with me until she gets back"

"Is that so officer Johnson?"

"Yes sir, she let me know as soon as she was aware of the wildfires that I would have to take over for her until she got back"

"And what made her decide to choose you instead of the EDC?"

"My brother is an EDC officer and I visit him and his family on a regular basis both on and off base, Masaki-san also visited base regularly whenever he was here, as such Daichi is already familiar with me and my family and she really, really doesn't want him to have his routine too badly interrupted so soon after the loss of their adoptive father"

"Do you understand rudimentary Japanese at least?"

"Nope, but Clair has that covered"

"Very well then, we wait until further notice to know if the rest of you are to be called up as well"

"Let's hope not, because if that happens then things are  _bad_  out there"

"Johnson are things in place while you take care of him?"

"Yes, both for the short term and the long term according to Captain Faireborn, but she said something about long term being classified"

"Understood, as long as he's taken care of"

Two weeks later things were under control and Clair and the Winspector unit was back home without anyone else from the station being called away for any reason

"How was Daichi?"

"Pretty good, one minor slip up in regards to language barrier but honestly understandable at the time it happened"

"How come?"

"Because I don't think you guys taught him English medical language yet which isn't even English for us"

"Okay now you lost me?"

"He unfortunately managed to get a mild case of Hay Fever, unfortunately..."

"Right, need to teach him a few more medical terms then since he knows the two conditions he had at the same time, and actually Hay Fever doesn't have a direct Japanese translation which is part of the problem now that I think about it"

"He's also doing what the original Winspector did as well when first learning English in regards to acronyms"

"Oh those...yeah we've both tried our best but...for some reason he just doesn't get acronyms he also sometimes gets confused when two different agencies are too similar to each other and we use the common word for them like NASA or EPA"

"Okay, good thing that wasn't a trigger this time"

"Agreed, now then time for me to take my brother home and get back to normal routine"

_Present_

Clair gets to the station and sees everyone she needs to see right as she walks in

"Captain, Winspector, headquarters, now"

They head to the headquarters of Winspector and Clair locks the door which meant things were serious

"What's wrong Clair?"

"In under an hour I will be in a double code black situation, Daichi has officially met his Cybertronian family by the way so you can tell Johnson that he will no longer be pressed to suddenly take care of Daichi Captain, tell him that I have made permanent arrangements with the EDC since he can't know the truth. I need you two to keep up the status quo here and let the Japanese branch know I will be away for an undetermined about of time"

"But Clair I don't think you're thinking about Daichi clearly"

"Oh yes I am, listen the area I will be going into means that a double code black is safest for everyone because if a line is hacked your location is discovered at best and those you care about are discovered at worse, I literally can't take the risk of any communications being tracked back to Earth for Daichi's safety"

"Very well then, double code black until we hear otherwise from you"

"Good, now then I have a few things to discuss with you and then I need to talk to my landlord since my lease is coming up soon and will most likely be finished by the time I get done with this mission"

"Like what?"

"The first is that this station has a Dinobot guard until further notice, discreet but still there per my orders, they might be needed Captain so don't argue, the second is that this station is officially going into EDC protection because of how dangerous my assignment will be, that means that  _all_  police officers will have at least one EDC officer tailing them on shift and if they're undercover or vice they'll have two, the only exception is of course Winspector since they're already EDC officers, but don't be surprised if you suddenly have discreet EDC backup on occasion because of this, and finally...finally is that you might be pressed into fighting our enemies which means everyone is getting EDC issue weapons and trained on them, this was supposed to actually happen much sooner but was delayed until you and I both came to an agreement Captain, but between losing dad and now this..."

"There's no longer any choice of a delay is there?"

"Nope"

"Understood and I'll make the rest of the station understand as well"

"Good, now then in regards to the EDC tails you won't notice them unless they are absolutely necessary, and once you safely reach the station they leave which is why a Dinobot will be discreetly guarding you at all times"

"Wait, shouldn't there be a Cybertronian guard constantly then?"

"Oh don't worry that's already handled, now then I have to meet with my landlord, don't forget I am going into double code black in less than an hour so don't even try and contact me"

"Got it"

Clair meets with her landlord to get her living situation straightened out and then leaves Earth on the assignment for a solid month before finally being finished with the current situation

"So you've taken care of the problem?"

"As much as possible yes, unfortunately there's a chance things aren't completely finished but I have no choice but to declare them done since there are no further leads"

"Okay then, so back to Earth"

"Yep, time to go back home, I have a brother to take care of"

"Who did you leave him with?"

"Relatives who are as protective of me as they are of him, now that they have that chance that is"

"That doesn't make much sense"

"I know, unfortunately you aren't cleared for that knowledge due to your rank in the EDC"

"Okay then, why was I cleared for this mission then?"

"Because of your specialized skills and the fact that we had allies also backing us up without your knowledge"

"Wait, you didn't trust me to get you home?"

"Actually I didn't trust the situation to become out of your league and you not realize it before it was too late, you're a rookie officer, just in your first year as an EDC officer who also lost their mentor recently...yeah I have a report on you, normally you would be with your mentor for up to two years, and in your situation you should have been transferred to a new mentor immediately, unfortunately no officer was available as of when the mission happened so you were selected to help due to your skills while on Earth a mentor is being looked for. Normally in this type of situation you would have been stuck at headquarters until one could be found for your own safety"

"Hey Clair is he cleared to know the history of our Cybertronian allies?"

"Yes he is, all cadets once graduated are cleared to learn the history of our Cybertronian allies, now then it starts even before they came to Earth, and their fights for a time was due to outside influences"


	49. Chapter 49

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay now then, as everyone who's read my stories knows I used to have the Cybertronians separated until more recently, and then I started having them no longer fighting, however I never explained how that happened except once where it went from her being raised by the Autobots to being part of the Cybertronian family. This explanation is what generally happens for all my stories on how they got together and stopped the fighting, yet at the same time starts the series off the same way but that explanation will be in this section

_Millions of years ago_

The Autobots and Decepticons were fighting once again when suddenly both sides during a lull in the fight detected something much worse, Quintessons which used to be their masters

"Megatron, if we want to survive this we must put aside our differences"

"Agreed Optimus Prime, as of now this war is over"

The two sides struggled naturally to work together initially but they did their best. During the fighting the Autobots temporarily lost Optimus, killed in battle against their enemies, fortunately by that time they trusted Megatron who led the entire Cybertronian forces when suddenly Optimus came back to life thanks to the Quintessons, but fortunately they didn't have him under their control for long and they won. There was peace for a time when it was discovered that the Quintessons had infected the Decepticon half of the Cybertronians and the war between the two factions started up again. During this time the Autobots tried to find a cure and ultimately succeeded right as they were getting ready to leave for new energy sources

"Now all we need to do is test the cure"

"But how?"

"I don't know, hopefully we'll find a way to do so"

They fled Cybertron and were attacked, eventually making it to Earth where they were in stasis for four million years. As soon as they woke up they made sure their cure was safe and started fighting again, while making sure that the world governments understood the truth behind the war, which meant that while they fought to protect themselves they also did their best to not seriously hurt the Decepticons. During one of the fights they managed to capture Soundwave and his cassettes and tried the cure on him first

"Soundwave free, thanks Autobots, suggests Seekers next"

"Don't worry we'll try it, but we'll also go for whoever we can get next, why not Megatron?"

"Megatron, paranoid"

"Understood Soundwave, do what you can until you are free, and we'll work on getting the cure to Cybertron for those there"

"Space bridge, best option, suggest battle to make it happen"

"Right"

Well the fliers were indeed next, and once that happened the rest of the Decepticons were freed at a quicker rate, ending the fighting between the two much sooner. They created Cybertron city when suddenly the Quintessons came back and both Optimus and Megatron were lost, during this time Unicron also showed up reformatting Megatron into Galvatron, who became temporarily insane (Megatron fought Unicron's mind control hard, but couldn't succeed on his own) Ultra Magnus temporarily took over the Cybertronian forces because they also lost the Matrix to the Quintessons. But during their travels to get it back Hot Rod came across it and in Unicron regained the Matrix becoming Rodimus, and also freeing Megatron from Unicron's control, but Megatron decided to keep his new name that Unicron gave him, Galvatron. For a time the two led the Cybertronians peacefully when suddenly the Quintessons brought Optimus back to life yet again, and this time had them under his complete control and it was a fierce fight between the two Primes, fortunately Rodimus freed Optimus from his control while also figuring out how to bring him back with Ratchet's help and succeeding in doing so. Many years later they would adopt Clair after finding out about her parent's deaths and the last will and testament left behind that stated that they wanted the Cybertronians to adopt their daughter

_Present_

"And so once Optimus was brought back things have remained relatively peaceful to this day"

"Wow that's an intense history"

"Yes it is, but it's one that you had a right to know, now then that isn't to say that enemies won't pop up that will give the Cybertronians issues, but that's part of why the EDC was formed after the battle for Cybertron city, to allow Earth and Cybertron to truly fight side by side"

"Well we should be back on Earth within a week, in the meantime...I think I'm going to stand down for a bit, let the autopilot do the work"

"Yeah we've been on alert for so long that we need the break, just...just keep your sidearm with you at all times still okay?"

"Fine by me"

"Good"

"Why though?"

"Just in case, there shouldn't be trouble but..."

"How paranoid are in in regards to trouble?"

"Enough, now then since we're all stood down how about we relax with a movie?"

A week later they arrive back on Earth with no issues having happened and as soon as the door to the shuttle was open Clair saw her brother who ran to her and she hugged him realizing that he was stressed about something and as such used Japanese

*Hey Daichi, what's wrong?*

*Doctor's appointment, there's tests that need done apparently, and unfortunately they used big medical words that I didn't understand and Ratchet wasn't much better*

*I'll see what I can do to help, meantime I want to check up on the rest of the family so you go with Faireborn back to the apartment, tell her that I made that request by the way*

Clair goes to the base to check on her family and talk to the doctor about what was going on with her brother when she came across Prowl and Jazz and instantly detected something different about them and as such decided to confront them to see if they would tell her the truth

"Prowl, Jazz, What. Did. You. Two. Do?"

"Um...well you see while you were gone there was a battle...and Prowl was injured pretty badly...you see the Quintessons shot him in the helm and chest...and I was the closest person...and he was critical...and well...we sort of...um...created a family bond...and I also...sort of...um...well that is I...I might have...takenpartofProwl'stacticalabilityformyself"

"What did you say Jazz?"

"I said that I might have taken part of Prowl's tactical ability for myself, it isn't doing either of us harm and it  _was_  doing more harm than good with Prowl at the moment so in put it into my brain temporarily, but it turns out that it's not so temporary and I now have some of Prowl's ability for myself and he also has the same ability since I kept the part only temporarily and returned it once he was repaired"

"Well that explains the new energy fields I am getting off the two of you, don't do anything stupid for the next few weeks okay?"

"Oh we're off duty until Ratchet clears us believe me"

"Good, what about Hook?"

"He's on Cybertron right now, but Galvatron promised that if we tried to slip Ratchet the second check up with Hook would pale in comparison to what he himself will do to us for disobeying orders"

"Okay now I need to know what it's doing to the two of you, in case we are working together for some reason"

"It allows us to feel each others pain and general emotions, it also acts like a homing beacon which means we can find each other any where's on a battlefield, and...if the worst should happen we'll know that as well, however it is not like the bond Optimus and Elita-One have where if one dies the other will as well, their bond also allows for communication between the two while ours doesn't"

"Okay then, we'll just have to keep a closer eye on you two for a bit then, and in a way this is definitely an advantage if one of you is captured"

"True, but it's also very dangerous in that if one is lost in the midst of battle it could distract the other long enough for both of us to be lost"

"I know, but we'll deal with that later, no choice in that regards anyways"

"True, oh and just in case you need to know how we created that bond, I gave him part of my spark energy, no actual merge or anything like that, more like...you know those chargers that you use? I basically did it that ways, through a power cord since we can do that, it just...isn't as effective and doesn't always work, but if that had been the case I would have slowly given some of my Energon to him to stabilize him until the medics came"

"Okay then, now I have the rest of the family to check on and a doctor to see and then I'm going home for the rest of the day"

"What about your Captain?"

"I won't report to him until tomorrow, new procedure established right before this mission, and that's for all officers leaving the station for a time for an assignment either military or EDC, and sometimes undercover officers as well depending on what they are doing"

Clair goes home and relaxes with her brother for the rest of the day, knowing that soon they would be going to Japan per the agreement made so many years before, but now she was thinking about changing the agreement for Daichi's sake

"Hey Daichi, I have a question for you"

"What is it?"

"How would you feel about moving back to Japan on a more permanent basis?"

"But...but don't you have to go back and forth between the two countries?"

"Yes, but I am thinking about changing the agreement made so many years ago for your sake...Daichi I know that normally you can handle things but there's too much that's been happening to you in recent months and I think you might need the stability of staying in your home country, at least for a few years"

"But I feel fine"

"That doesn't mean you'll be fine soon, or that you're denying your own emotions, especially since you've experienced my PTSD episodes first hand since we lost dad, there's so much that's changed for you and being in the country of your native language might help give you a more stable life that you need right now, I know for a fact that staying in Japan for as long as I did helped get me more stable before going back and forth between the two countries"

"But you had more to deal with and heal from"

"Yes, but like I said I think you need the stability right now"

"Well I think I'll be fine, if things change we can return to this conversation but for now I want things to remain status quo"

"Very well then if you're sure about this then I won't argue any more"

Daichi hesitated on something noticeably so Clair gave him the chance to gather his thoughts, and then was surprised by what he was hesitant about, as was obvious through his changing languages

*Clair...could you possibly support me in a legal name change?*

*What?*

*I...I want to become a Kerenai-Masaki as well, like you are, so that there's no question about me being your brother*

*Sorry little brother, but this time this is something I am unable to support*

*But...*

*Listen Daichi, I am honored that you want your name changed, but you will be carrying on the Masaki line once you get married and have kids of your own, while with me there's a chance my powers are now hereditary, that is how my line will be passed on, through my powers. There's also the fact that there's some legal things you are not aware of which makes having your name legally changed to mine much harder than you think*

*Fine, is it safe to assume it won't be any easier once I am a legal adult?*

*Now that I don't actually know about, but it might be, and even if that's the case my name is in the history of the Cybertronians, as is yours now so we will always be remembered*

*What about dad?*

*Him as well since he took care of me for a solid year and adopted me*

*Would his name still be in the history if he hadn't adopted you?*

*Yes, he did what our Cybertronian family could not for a solid year, it took months for me to even handle simple letters from the only family I had known for ten years, our adopted father took me in and helped me heal from seven years of what was essentially torture, though not all of it physical, he gave me a home to live in and feel safe, he basically raised me for a solid year and helped me get back on my feet, that alone would have awarded him the honor of being in the history books of the Cybertronians, the fact that he also adopted me just makes him that more important to the family personally is all*

*By the way, how can I be carrying on the Masaki line if I too was adopted?*

*Don't worry about that for now, just understand that you'll be carrying on dad's line in the future, now then I go back in tomorrow and you have school, however I am changing a rule that's been long established between us, from now on you go straight to the base after school instead of home, you stay there until I come get you, if I can't come I will call the base and let our Cybertronian family know that they have caretaker duties to attend and they'll let Faireborn know how long she'll have to be my substitute in signatures since she is authorized for all the EDC kids not of legal age*

*Which for me is twenty*

*Nope, eighteen since you have dual citizenship because of me*

*Oh, um...what's going on with me medically?*

(Sighs) *I need to know if you remember anything from before dad adopted you into the family*

*No not really, I remember my parent's faces occasionally and I think I remember being told to stay away from a certain area where we lived but other than that...why do you ask?*

*Because it has to do with why the doctor wants to do specialized tests on you, as you already know you became very sick with two different diseases a few years ago, and you need testing to make sure neither disease has popped up again whenever you get sicker than normal. This time however while doing a routine check up the doctors...think they detected something and need to do further tests to see if this is harmful to you or if it's nothing to worry about*

*Who will be with me during all of this if you have to work?*

*Most likely Faireborn will be, our Cybertronian family would be too, if they could fit in the hospital, but they will definitely be giving you rides to and from the hospital during possibly days of testing and I will be there whenever I can as well, if not for the fact that Winspector is really needed right now at the station I would be given orders to remain at the EDC base which would be legitimate since there are issues right now that means reserve EDC officers are being called in constantly right now*

*Is this part of why you want to move more permanently to Japan?*

*Yes, you need stability and one location to receive possible treatments and our current agreement means that you won't have that kind of stability*

*How about this, we wait until the tests and results are in and come back to this discussion again once we know more*

*Very well, do understand though that there might be things you won't understand medically speaking or why I do certain actions in regards to you and your safety*

*I know*

For the next two weeks Clair would do normal police work while Daichi was given medical tests. Due to the fact that the medical facility used Cybertronian technology the results were known to the doctors within a day of the tests being done, but they waited until all tests had been concluded to compile a needed report and discuss what would be next

"So time to tell them"

"Yes, time to tell them"

Clair and Daichi go to the doctors and wait for them with Clair comforting Daichi with Japanese

*It'll be okay I promise I will be by your side throughout the entire process*

The doctors came in right afterwords

"Okay, so the test results are in and we've figured out what's wrong. As you know when he was younger he suffered a unique combination of Lyme disease and Malaria, and more recently it's been discovered that the treatments he received makes him susceptible to cosmic radiation, you also know that he recently had Hay fever" (sighs) "we've run some tests and have realized that he has a fairly new medical condition call Hypersupressive Immune Reactive Disease meaning that his immune system is permanently weaker and reacts to every little cut or cold differently than normal it also is affected by anything you were exposed to in the past, like that area you lived in before Masaki adopted you Daichi, the reason your birth parents were so protective of you and kept you out of an area where you lived was because of contamination risks due to an experiment. You weren't exposed in high doses because of your family's protection but it put you at higher risk for this disease. Now then there are treatments available but you should know that they're for the rest of your life"

"Like what?"

"The most basic treatment option available is daily medication where you take at least one pill a day for the rest of your life while constantly monitored for adjustments, the other option is surgery, where we put a special patch on your back that sends signals to the rest of your body that will strengthen your immune system just like the medication would but you wouldn't need consistent monitoring for adjustments, just annual doctors visits to make sure your healthy and a few extra precautions during the cold/flu season and if you're ever sick with anything else, most likely a hospital stay if it's been determined severe enough"

"Can we talk about this together?"

"Yes, you need time to decide what's best for both of you because your sister would also be affected due to the fact that she's your legal guardian"

The two left and then for three weeks talked through the pros and cons of both options and ultimately decided that surgery was the best option for them in the long run

"Now all we need to do is let them know and set a date for the procedure"

"Yes, and let Ratchet, First Aid and Hook know as well, just in case they're able to help with anything"

As it turned out they were able to help, due to Clair's unique physiology because of her powers a lot of medications had needed adapted over the years and were known mostly by the Cybertronians though they had passed it on to those who were more likely to have contact with her due mainly to their sheer size and inability to fit in most buildings not specifically built by them, due to this they had been working on special drugs to make surgery much safer than it was currently and had authorization from the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration to start using it in field tests in the medical community, and Daichi's surgery would be one of the early tests. The surgery ultimately went well and Daichi would recover quickly with no complications


	50. Chapter 50

"Well now that we've taken care of that, it's time for the two units to switch places again"

"Not quite Captain I have orders in regards to another state, as such the other two will head over first and I will head over once my assignment is finished"

"Who gave you these orders?"

"POTUS"

"Who?"

"Our President gave me these orders"

"Just confirming what you said since that is a reply I don't get often, even with you guys"

"True enough"

"Daichi?"

"Things are already in place since he currently can't go to school and I have to work"

"Right the surgery"

"Exactly"

A week later Clair was in trouble, her boat had crashed and she had no clue where she was anymore, but what she did know was that she had to be near America due to the fact that they hadn't gone that far from the ocean border but the exact location was currently unknown

"Okay sit rep time, I was helping another police force by explaining Winspector a bit better and also evaluating their rescue procedures for the fire department to see if it's viable to have another American branch, we received word of trouble and our boat went out to check things and then that storm happened and now I have absolutely no clue where I am at the moment, and the rest of the team is probably worried sick about me, go figure, okay need to do an inventory, check the sky and then find my way home, good thing both groups insisted on me learning how to navigate by the stars, even if I did hate the terrorist group for forcing me to be with them for seven years"

Clair does an inventory and finds that she had the supplies to make a boat and that's what she does and while she does so, slowly admittedly due to the fact that she was actually injured while doing inventory, she used various methods to keep her spirits up, including singing in her native language of Cybertronian

*I know where I need to go, but how to get there I don't know how, I know how to sail, but to sail for now is not the course I need to take, to sail by day and night I need my strength, I know my home, but not where it is, I am a person who has two families and I need to get back to them, I know I can, just don't when I will, but I will and when I do I will teach them what I've learned and then do things once more that I know, my brother is home and I might head there, I wish there was a way to make contact, but since there isn't I need this method to go home, but next time I leave and take a boat I will make sure I have a way to contact home*

Clair would be stuck where she was for three days, during which time the Coast Guard had been alerted to her situation and would search until they found her safe, if a bit tired

"Come on, let's get you home"

"Works for me"

Unfortunately Clair wouldn't be in Japan for long

"Clair, we need you to undergo a mission"

"What do you need?"

"Cybertron"

"Oh, can I come?"

"Sorry Daichi, I don't think you can come with this time"

"But I have yet to see our second home"

"I know, but I think there's something wrong and you're going to tell me Rodimus"

"They've gone dark Clair, Ultra Magnus wouldn't do that without good reason"

"I get it, my mission is to see what's wrong, and if there is see if there's an underground fighting force"

"Exactly"

"Good thing my powers allow me to fake death to the enemy"

"Indeed"

"What I don't get is why she can't go by space bridge"

"That one's easy, too easy for me to get trapped and killed for real if Cybertron has been invaded, no the shuttle is the best option to keep me alive"

Clair leaves and as soon as she gets in range of Cybertron's defenses she's attacked and her eyes quickly go hazel to fake the shuttle's destruction and then keeps said shuttle hidden

"Phase one is complete, now for phase two find out if any are fighting the enemy, whoever that is"

Clair sees the entrance to the lower levels of Cybertron and quickly heads there knowing that once underground she would not have to fear for her safety quite as much and also had a much better chance of meeting up with any resistance cells that might exist already

"Okay, now that I'm safe underground I can spare a little time to eat something and then I search for family"

Clair eats food and then searches for her family, and eventually actually does find a cell, but they weren't aware of Clair at first since they were sleeping in a pile, which she decided to join since she was exhausted by that point, and besides the plan had included two days of no contact with Earth before panic started to set in with the rest of the family. Several hours later the first of the group woke up and quickly realized that they had a problem on their hands

"Well, this is unexpected, and it means I can't move yet"

The rest of the group wakes up and the one member who realized he had a problem spoke up before things became dangerous

"Be very careful when moving guys, and don't expect me to be moving any time soon"

"What for?"

"Because I'm currently a human pillow"

The rest carefully untangle themselves and see that their fellow member was indeed a human pillow

"Okay wasn't expecting to see Kerenai-Masaki here"

"Earth probably sent to her see what's going on"

"Good point"

"Well she  _is_  the only human to truly know Cybertron, having been here whenever possible before those seven years we lost her to  _those_ people"

"She was probably hoping for underground resistance cells"

"Which there are, we don't have any real contact with them but they are around since we occasionally manage to link up on separate missions that happen to be in the same location"

"Those are fortunate happenstances"

"For now though you are indeed stuck until she wakes up"

"I am not going to like moving once she is up depending on how long she stays asleep"

"Don't worry you'll stretch out soon enough once she's up"

"I don't know, I did a brief scan and it's showing...well scan her yourself and find out"

The group scans her and is shocked at the results. Clair was exhausted, sick, injured and under the influence of a whole lot of drugs that while normally safe also were not dosed correctly for her due to her powers and as such while they weren't going to kill her immediately they did mean that she would be unconscious for much longer than normal for her condition, which meant that the human pillow wouldn't be moving for a week, or more if they didn't find a solution soon because Clair  _needed_  the sleep, unfortunately due to everything she'd been through she also woke up as soon as she was moved by her Cybertronian family, but at the same time the resistance member was needed themselves

"Okay we need a plan of some sort because she needs sleep but I need to be able to do my job"

"And we need to find a way to contact Earth and let them know what's going on"

Suddenly they heard whimpering and realized just what was going on

"And she's in a PTSD episode on top of everything else"

"Sing?"

"Might work"

They sing an old Cybertronian lullaby from when she was very very young and it immediately calms her down, unfortunately it also had the opposite effect it normally did and brought her out of her sleep instead of deeper into it

"Hey Springer, Kup, Sunstorm, Blitzwing, what is going on here?"

(Sighs) "Quintessons and Lacrotatons both attacking at the same time Magnus ordered everyone underground, and we haven't made contact with Earth since then, and as you can probably already tell we're all split up as well into smaller resistance cells"

"Worried about signal hacking?"

"Yep"

"Well I have a secure means of communicating, and I think I also have a plan to take back Cybertron quickly, but it will have to be a coordinated attack which means all the cells working together instead of just happening to be in the same area"

"Works for us, we haven't gotten very far by ourselves, but it's been too risky to coordinate our attacks for a reason"

"I know, now then it will take me a bit of time to make the connection so if you have any plans do them and I'll let you know our status once you get back"

"Okay, and then you're going to talk about what's going on with you and why they sent you without properly scanning you before the mission"

"Oh I was medically cleared for the mission, but more on that once contact is made and we start getting ready for the final fight for Cybertron"

"Fine, but first properly dosed medication for you"

"Okay, you have some?"

"Always do now"

Clair takes the meds and then makes contact with both Earth and the rest of the Cybertronian resistance to make sure everyone was current on information, and that meant that the resistance could actually start planning a coordinated attack unlike before

"Okay, so as I said I was actually medically cleared for the mission, unfortunately as you know I'm not a pilot and that's where things actually went wrong. First day in space I had five different issues I had to take care of so that the shuttle could remain remote controlled and I was unfortunately exposed to radiation that while normally wouldn't have been too bad, it was in an extreme and concentrated dose that it affects me, I have been up being sick since then though my treatments have helped with the symptoms so I  _am_  getting sleep, just not quite enough and I finally had to resort to the dangerous cocktail you most likely detected right after I landed on Cybertron to get sleep once I knew I was safe. My injuries came from a combination of fooling the enemy that the shuttle blew up and when I had to do minor engine repair shortly before arrival, and when I say repair I mean sabotage it just enough to make sure that the engine pieces would be detected in the false explosion, but not enough to keep me from getting here in the first place"

"So you knew that it was a dangerous cocktail to you?"

"Yep unfortunately there was also no other choice, this mission was set up  _fast_ , so fast that I took a barely refueled shuttle, forget about full supplies"

"You will be with us until the mission is over, getting needed sleep and obeying all orders we give you when you're out in the field, and that includes no powers except as a last resort"

"Even though they no longer drain me except in extreme cases?"

"Yep"

"Fine"

"Now then, anything else we should know?"

"Yep, but it has to do with battle, I have bombs that can cut out communications in a fifty foot radius for three hours, we need an agreed signal to alert our forces to what's going on at a moment's notice and then pass it on to the rest"

"Since when have those bombs been around?"

"They're in the testing phase now, mostly for Winspector but a few specialized regular police units and EDC units are also testing them on Earth"

"Why cut comms with your group?"

"Trust me it's needed sometimes"

"Clair..."

"Hey it's not  _my_ fault we have smart criminals who can track us through the radio, almost lost a few officers last time"

"So where is your unit anyways?"

"Japan at the moment, you know the agreement"

"True, so Japanese branch is in America unless ordered otherwise"

"Exactly, I wasn't even in Japan long before this assignment but it was long enough that the bombs were needed"

"Right, we need a way of knowing"

"Hm...how about the Czech phrase for fast racing?"

"Okay, that should work, what is it?"

"Rychlé závodění"

"Rychlé závodění, got it now to pass it onto the rest of the resistance"

It would take another month but finally the fight to free Cybertron was on and several coordinated attacks were made when suddenly Clair realized what was needed and acted fast, she quickly grabbed one of the bombs she had warned the group about and shouted as loud as she could knowing that the word would be passed on for those who wouldn't hear very, very quickly

"Rychlé závodění!"

The bomb went off and suddenly the enemy was very disorganized, however the Cybertronians were not due to the fact that while not  _entirely_  expected they had planned for a sudden disruption in communications. Clair would do that two more times in different areas but finally Cybertron was taken back and Clair was able to go back to Earth, finding that her unit was in America, and would join them in a fight against EDC enemies which called for EDC backup


	51. Chapter 51

"Clair you got anything?"

"Yep, better get people to safety though, because it's going to be a bit messy"

Everyone knew that was code for major power use that was destructive and so once people were safe she used her powers that involved a lot of cracks in the ground, some energy power balls that she threw and a few explosive abilities as well before going hand to hand for a bit before then switching to weapons, and she also soon discovered that they were once again being tracked by their radio signals, of course that only happened when Clair was informed that Prowl had gone down  _hard_  near the station, which she was starting to wonder if it would be left standing

"Okay that's it, no more playing around, Adam you got any of those communication bombs?"

"Oh yeah"

"Good, they're needed"

"Got it, okay everyone blackout!"

Communication was suddenly cut but the enemy wanted to fight a bit longer, however the cut communication meant that several groups were able to get to Prowl and move him to another location without worrying about being found out before he was stable enough to be transported to the nearby EDC base, fifteen minutes after comms were cut the battle was over with and surprisingly enough the police station was still standing, granted there was damage on the outside but it was standing

"Okay the outside is still standing, now to see what's inside"

Inside was another story however, the station wasn't holding any prisoners at the moment and that seemed to be their only saving grace

"Okay, this is a mess, we're not going to be able to properly use this place for a bit"

"So secondary location?"

"Yep, secondary location"

"So, I have a question Captain, how does our status with the EDC affect us now?"

"Well for one you're going to get help and rebuild much faster, and for another we're sending officers to stay with you at your new location until things are stable enough that we can focus on your building"

Everyone turns to see Captain Marissa Faireborn

"Captain Faireborn, I thought you were in China"

"India, and for the record Clair I was on the way home as soon as I was told you were close to home yourself, you beat me by only two hours"

"Okay, though I am  _demanding_  a change during the rebuilding process, one I should have demanded much sooner but decided against as being too disruptive at the time"

"What sort of change?"

"A proper office for Winspector, one that has much higher security than the rest of the station, and much better protection. I can make an office within an office which means if something like this happens again the officers won't be  _entirely_  without their original station"

"I think I know what you're trying to say, you want a reinforced part of the building that Winspector will work out of, but can be an emergency office at need, a satellite office, where the main force is at the secondary location but some of the officers can still work from the main station"

"Yes, if that happens no officers who understand Japanese Captain, can't afford it at times"

"Understood Kerenai-Masaki, I know that you deal with higher security issues than the rest of us cleared for EDC level work because of who we are"

"Good, now then I am going  _home_  and not coming back for at least three days, my brother needs me more at the moment"

"You have a point, your balance is much harder and he needs his big sister, especially right now...he's, well he's not doing the greatest right now between real grief that's truly finally starting to hit him and somehow, don't ask me how, but somehow managed to catch some sort of illness that has knocked him down but not to the point of hospital"

Clair goes home and dismisses the EDC officer who was taking care of her brother and slips into Japanese

*Hey Daichi, what's wrong?*

*Don't know Clair, one day I was okay and then the next I became sick and have been for a week now*

*Want to tell me everything you can about it?*

*Sure*

And so Daichi explains everything that happened up to the point of when he got sick and once she heard the timeline of events she just simply sighed

*Okay, here's what we're going to do, once you've settled for the moment I am taking you to Ratchet for some tests to confirm my suspicions and then we go from there*

*Might take a while*

*Don't worry I know that*

Several hours later Clair was able to take Daichi to Ratchet and have her suspicions confirmed

"So he does indeed have the illness"

"Yes he does"

"Why hasn't there been an inoculation then?"

"Oh we've been working on one for all EDC officers and their kids for years and have yet to succeed, this began even before we adopted you"

"By how long?"

"Two years, unfortunately so far we have yet to succeed and with your abilities it makes it that much harder to devise a vaccine for you that will work"

"The only good thing is that it isn't fatal or lasts too terribly long, but with Daichi's condition..."

"He'll have it twice as long and suffer more severely, to the point of hospitalization depending on how severe it gets"

"Understood, but Ratchet, we need the vaccine and you know it, there could be an epidemic if there isn't one"

"What makes you say that Clair?"

(Sighs) "I know I don't talk about my seven years as a terrorist often but this time you need information that I haven't given to you since I didn't realize that it was needed. The illness is communicable and not only that it returns if severe enough after enough time, I was fourteen when I got sick with the same illness again, it's like Malaria Ratchet, and I think I might get sick again being exposed by my brother I just don't know, all I know is that it does return if bad enough the first time"

(Sighs) "I wish I had known this sooner"

"I know, I should have thought to inform you before now I just didn't think it was needed, even when I realized an inoculation hasn't been discovered yet"

"It's worse than you realize, because we didn't know it was communicable other officers now need to be put into quarantine that I was unaware being needed"

"Actually that's where you're wrong, due to the fact that you aren't involved in human medicine often you don't realize that a policy of the EDC states that any officer subjected to an unknown illness on Earth or on a different planet is automatically quarantined until it has been deemed safe, and due to the fact that only one officer was ever exposed to Daichi he'll already be in quarantine being watched carefully for any sign of the disease"

"Then how was Faireborn alerted to his illness?"

"Overnight babysitter turned caretaker during illness"  
"Oh, okay, wait what about food?"

"Delivered to the door and a message would have been given to the officer to let him know that it had arrived and was safe to open the door"

"What I'm wondering is why we were never informed, since it has popped up a few times since you've been gone"

"No clue, might have to change a few rules, but for now...for now we deal with Daichi and make sure I am quarantined, oh and it's person to person, not person to bot, so you guys don't have to worry about getting sick, just keep everyone else  _out_ "

"What about different species?"

"That I don't know, but I wouldn't risk it if I were you, no clue how dangerous it might be to a different species"

"Point, could be dangerous to lethal levels couldn't it?"

"Yep"

Fortunately while Clair didn't get sick again she  _did_  have antibodies which a vaccine was made from and quickly approved of and it was given to  _everyone_  in the EDC parents and children alike. Two weeks later Daichi was better and Clair was at her job when one day Daichi came to her job and sat down heavily muttering in Japanese about stupid family

"Daichi what's wrong?"

"Clair they're doing it again"

"Who's doing what again?"

"Prowl and Jazz they're...they're acting overprotective of each other and nearly tore Ratchet's head off when he went to check on Prowl after the most recent battle and he was injured pretty badly"

(Sighs) "I was wondering when that would start up again...Daichi there's...there's something you need to understand about those two now. Do you remember when I talked to you about how the Cybertronians think of each other as family, and how some actually have bonds which literally make them family either made or well, born?"

"What about it?"

"Well, in a fight while I was gone the two of them developed such a bond, they're basically brothers now and unfortunately their bond makes  _my_  reactions whenever you come to harm pale in comparison to their reactions, and then there was another fight more recently, it was  _bad_  Daichi, my department backed the EDC up and I wasn't sure at times if I would have a police department to return to. During the fight Prowl went down and he went down hard and Jazz felt that, unfortunately that bond also means that until Jazz properly settles down and realizes that Prowl really will be okay both of them will be overreacting to everyone since what Jazz feels emotionally Prowl can feel and since Jazz himself was hurt in the fight, though not as severely, it amplifies that emotion ten-fold at the very least"

"Great overprotective robots, that's going to end so well isn't it?"

"Don't worry there are protocols in place for just such a situation and things will be fine eventually I promise, they just need to get past the initial stage first is all"

"Though it's weird, they're acting like Optimus and Elita-One or the twins Sideswipe and Sunstreaker"

"You're right that is weird" (sighs) "okay Winspector new rule, if Jazz and Prowl are on the same battlefield you make sure they stay safe, if they are separated, and you have to confirm that make sure the one stays safe for the other, in the meantime I'm going to try and find out what's going on with those two"

"How will you do that?"

"I'll figure it out somehow"

A week later Clair gets that chance when Prowl went down and he went down hard with Jazz following soon after even though he himself wasn't severely hurt. When that happened Clair took the opportunity to use her medical device to scan them and discovered something that should have been discovered much, much sooner than this

"Jazz, you are in  _so much_  trouble when you wake up"

A few hours later Prowl was better and Jazz was awake and left the medbay but Clair found out and went to the one room she knew he would be in at this time of day and saw the other three she wanted to speak to as well

"Jazz! Ratchet! First Aid! Hook! You thick headed idiots! I blame mostly you Jazz, but Ratchet, First Aid and Hook should have had their suspicions long before now"

"What suspicions?"

"Jazz, the idiot that he is left out a critical piece of information the day he saved Prowl's life, now then I'm sure you grilled him on what he did and he told you about his tactical surgery he did and the power cord link of spark energy he did to keep Prowl alive until aid could arrive. What he didn't mention was that he literally gave Prowl a piece of his spark to keep him alive,  _which a medical scan would have detected_  the first time one of them was injured had he not managed to somehow conceal it from everyone, including Prowl I bet. I blame the three of you for not thinking about doing such a check the first time one of them acted like the twins in battle and afterwords"

"But Prowl is acting the same as Jazz, which means he most likely does know and simply didn't tell us"

"Not quite, he's probably acting instinctively and not remembering those moments clearly"

"Actually Clair you're only partially right, he is acting instinctively, but he remembers those moments clearly but I am still leading him to believe it's because of the fact that the family bond wasn't created under normal conditions, which it wasn't, but he simply thinks that me having his complete tactical processing powers temporarily is what was abnormal"

"And what's your excuse Jazz?"

"Because of the fact that we are like the twins and I was the one to give my spark to him I feel it more intensely than he does, like a part of me is dying every time he's seriously injured and want to reassure myself that he is still with us"

"That doesn't explain why Prowl almost tore my head off when I was checking on him a week ago"

"Actually it does Ratchet, he's instinctively protecting that part of himself, and it will happen again when he wakes up this time too now that I think about it"

"Clair..."

"No Jazz, you know full well it will happen every time until this bond is truly stabilized by being mutual, and you're the one who's going to have to reveal it to him since you've been lying to him for so long"

"Is that why you've had Winspector close by?"

"Yep, even made sure it was passed onto the Japanese branch since I didn't think we would find out what was going on so soon"

"Okay, when he wakes up I'll tell him the whole story"

"You'd better, or you're going to get it from me"

"Oh really?"

"Yes Jazz, you have no clue just how mad I am at you right now, the medics get a pass due to the fact that you even fooled and lied to them, but you...you are  _this close_  to having me at your throat, literally"

Everyone was shocked that Clair had mentioned being at someone's throat literally, and the fact that her two fingers were centimeters apart made it even worse

"How come?"

(Sighs) "Seven years with terrorists, and I know it's not much of an explanation so I will  _try_  to explain it further. You know I went through a lot during those seven years, and therapists know most of my story since I have PTSD and sometimes see them, what you don't know is that I had to deal with a similar but different situation during those seven years, Jazz, the group called it brotherhood but it was basically slavery in a way, and that was with my group which was  _nice_  compared to another group we came across, where it wasn't even disguised as slavery for the one's forced into joining, no choice, no free will, it was bad, add to that the fact that I spent the first two years drugged and it makes your situation all that much worse in my mind"

"Clair..."

"Not hearing it right now, mainly because if I don't go for a coffee run you're going to be down one Cybertronian spy, deep fried by the way"

An hour later Clair was in an active shooter situation and  _not_  happy about it


	52. Chapter 52

"How many bullets do you have?"

"Four, you?"

"Eighteen, here take my magazine, I will still have one left"

"Thanks, now what?"

"No clue, all our plans so far have failed and I know for a fact that there's no backup on the way, not after what we heard earlier"

"Thanks for protecting the principal by the way"

"No problem, these guys will have to take him and you over my dead body, literally and at the moment that's very hard to do"

"Well either way you have our thanks, now like you said we need a new plan, but the enemy seems to adapt to our plans very quickly"

"Exactly, as it is I've barely kept them from killing us a few times and that's only...because...I think I have an idea, it's risky, more risk than any of our other plans so far but it's the only one I've got right now that has even a remote chance of working"

"Just what is your plan and how remote is remote?"

"It involves my powers and by remote I mean that I have only one shot at this, if I fail that's it, no other plans available at the moment"

"Sorry Kerenai-Masaki, not happening on my orders"

"Yes sir"

Both could tell that Clair wasn't happy, but orders were orders and she knew it

"I know you don't like it when I pull rank on you, but there's a reason I have to this time"

"What is it sir?"

"A specialized team that's going into action soon, your plans bought us time for them to gather intelligence on these guys and develop a plan to take them down as safely as possible for everyone"

"How new is this team?"

"It went active while you were on Cybertron dealing with that issue, so just under a month"

"They good?"

"They'd better be, they have almost as much training as an EDC officer, just more specialized than most of the EDC is, and they were picked from top police and military recruits as well"

"Fine, let me know the signal and I can actually coordinate with them making things much easier in the long run and you know it"

"Don't worry I will, in the meantime I think we should start moving again before we're found out"

"Right, and I think I finally have a good hiding spot"

"Oh?"

"Yep, but I can't tell you quite yet, and when this is over we are going to have a talk about weaponry"

"Oh?"

"Yep, it involves you, your guards, and how limited they are"

"Okay, makes sense, what were you doing here anyways?"

"Coffee, I really, really needed it, you?"

"Three guesses and the first two don't count"

(Sighs) "I should have known there was politics going on at the mall today, security was more visible than normal,  _that_  should have been a warning sign, one that I completely ignored apparently"

"Not entirely your fault though, not only did I ask them to be as discreet as possible this trip has been in the planning since you left for Cybertron, and after coming home you immediately sequestered yourself with your sick brother so it's no wonder you haven't been caught up yet"

"Okay you have a point, but still this should have been a priority, oh well too late now, okay when I give the word we move, will the specialized team be able to handle that?"

"Oh yeah they're good if we move"

"Good, we move in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, now!"

The group quickly moves from their current location to another real quickly and manages to get into the halls behind the store and uses those to their advantage in getting to the last floor of the building before going to the roof

"Okay we have a little bit of time before they discover us here, hopefully the extraction team can get us without any problems"

"Agreed"

Unfortunately while the specialized team managed to make it to their location without problems the evacuation was complicated in that somehow the enemy managed to get a blowtorch which meant fire raining down on them, but Clair had been practicing her manipulation ability with elements and was now proficient in that ability and as soon as she saw the flames coming towards her she captured said flames inside her shield and turned the weapon back on the enemy, ultimately allowing for their escape

"Okay what was that?"

"Something relatively new in regards to my abilities, I know you didn't notice the hazel eyes but I was using those powers on occasion to get us out alive, and that was of course part of my original plan before you ordered me not to use said plan. Now then full story later but for now...I  _really_  don't like this location"

"Uh, Kerenai-Masaki the building is on fire still, collapsing and it looks like there are more survivors than you first thought"

Clair turns to see exactly that situation and is shocked and unable to do something temporarily, fortunately her team was alerted to where she was and the situation so they arrived with her car and all of them knew exactly what was needed

"Armor on!"

They all put on their protective armor and started the evacuation process, fortunately the firefighters could also help with that so they were done relatively quickly and then simply stayed for traffic control reasons

"So, back to the station once this is done?"

"Sorry, I have to head back home, don't forget I have a little brother at home and there were...issues that popped up after the battle, I simply left because of a desperate need for coffee, never planned on this, and I have a report to give to the EDC now due to this situation too"

"Wait...you never want to have coffee at the time you would have wanted it"

"Better to get coffee than possibly kill someone with my abilities, especially someone unintended with how mad I was at the time"

"What made you so angry?"

"Sorry, not secure enough here"

"Understood, does it have to do with what was discussed at headquarters recently?"

"Yep"

"Got it, full debrief later than?"

"Exactly"

"Go home then, we'll report back to the Captain, and then you're coming back to the station right?"

"Yep, I am still a police officer after all, I just have special EDC duties to attend to that you guys don't have due to my unique situation"

Clair goes back and gives her report about the situation to her EDC superiors and then hears welcome news

"Prowl's awake, Jazz and he have talked and the bond is mutual now"

"How angry was Prowl?"

"Not as bad as it could have been, but not pleasant to hear to say the least"

"Okay then, now I have to get back to the station since I am technically still on my shift, I just originally came back because you needed me for answers and I needed answers myself in regards to what was happening to Prowl and Jazz, and then I needed the coffee I was so angry, does mean I have to work late but it is what it is, tell Daichi I won't be home before he goes to bed tonight"

"Will do"

Clair goes to the station and gets things settled, three days later everything would change, Clair and her unit received orders to report to an EDC moon base while the Japanese branch was ordered to America, China and to remain in Japan for reasons unknown. The group was also separated because Clair had to take care of a school function for the police first while Mark and Adam left immediately and arrived at the base safely, Clair however would not arrive at all and would in fact be thought dead due to an explosion

"Clair..."

"Looks like we have to take care of Daichi now"

"Her will?"

"Soon"

"Right"

A few days later it was confirmed that Clair had left Daichi in the care of the Cybertronians with the usual agreements in place as well for all EDC kids in regards to Captain Faireborn being medical at need meanwhile both units of Winspector continued their duties knowing that was what Clair would ultimately want, though it was hard on them because it really was too soon after Masaki's death in everyone's mind. At the same time all of this was happening Clair had been taken by a new enemy and was drugged, however what the enemy didn't know was that the drug was essentially ineffective due to previous exposure to said drug and the adaptive ability of her powers and body to handle poisons and foreign substances, but the enemy didn't know that while Clair didn't realize that she would be away from family for three very long years


	53. Chapter 53

_Year one_

Clair quickly learned that she was the newest of prisoners and also quickly learned that these guys were gearing up for an attack on her family, fortunately Clair herself had taken care of a major issue once she realized that an attack was imminent and she had access to a computer she hacked the Cybertronian files to protect Winspector and her family

"There that's done...now for some sleep"

Because while Clair was able to fight the drugs for the most part she  _was_  still slightly affected in that she was in a mild fog of unable to think clearly for parts of the day, mostly when it had been a while since mealtime and late at night before they were allowed to sleep, but otherwise she was faking being as severely affected as the enemy thought she was, but to do so she needed a clear head and that meant going to sleep when the drugs forced her to do so

_Year two_

Clair was going about her day, having recently found out about the defense system when suddenly she heard alarms going off and an alert about and attempted breakout in another block, which was handled without the defense system but still efficient and harsh

(Thinks) " _I am really starting to hate these guys, if only an escape could happen...wait it just might if I plan things out but...no I can't risk it, not yet, but I can start making plans for when the time is right_ "

With that Clair starts observing her enemies and allies even more closely while still hiding the fact that she wasn't as affected by the drugs as most would be, even with a suddenly higher dose that was given to all the prisoners after one of the ones who had been there the longest started to resist orders because the body had adapted to the level of medication in their body only a month earlier...or at least approximately a month as far as she could figure

"Get back to work slaves"

"Yes sir" (thinks) " _just wait, soon enough you will regret taking prisoners, just like I'm sure you've been regretting making an enemy out of my family ever since that first attack, good thing I have kept my powers hidden though because who knows what you might come up with if I hadn't_ "

_Year Three_

Everything would change suddenly because one day Clair was at the welcome pad and realized that the prisoner they brought in would be controlled through other means than drugs, because this prisoner was  _immune_  to any and all drugs that controlled someone's mind, they were a refugee from another planet and they instantly recognized Clair, but didn't say anything instead they kept quiet waiting for Clair to reveal herself knowing that there was a reason she hadn't made contact with her family, but they did decide to get to know her seeing as how they were roommates

"So how late do you stay up?"

"Not late, they control everyone's routine by the way they have means to keep control over their prisoners so how are they controlling you?"

"Threats, very dangerous threats to Earth"

"Right, be warned I am drugged to the gills and am going to crash soon because of said drugs"

Clair didn't reveal the truth that she recognized them either due to the fact that they were currently being watched by guards, who actually heard this conversation enough that they weren't suspicious of it at all, which would be dangerous in the long run. A few days later once again the alarm for an escape attempt was heard and Clair had finally had enough and since the area was secure she declared so

"Right then, I've had quite enough of these failed half-baked escape plans, it's time to coordinate our movements to truly escape"

"But ma'am..."

"Look I know this won't be easy, but it needs to be done for all our sakes, it's time we were free once more"

"How long have you been here?"

"Three years, most of it I will admit to being slightly out of it under the influence of drugs but for reasons I am not getting into I am  _really_  resistant to any drugs of that nature, as such I have been quietly observing my enemy, waiting for the right time to escape and that time is now, but only if we work together can we succeed"

"What do you need?"

"For now to slowly start passing on the word that we're breaking out of here, once I have confirmation that the rest of the prisoners are aware of the break out attempt we'll go on to phase two of my escape plan"

"Phase two?"

"Oh yeah, I have multiple phases for this escape and multiple plans for each phase depending on what happens during each phase of the plan"

A month later Clair knew that everyone had heard about the fact that it was time for an escape plan

"Okay now what?"

"Now we start secretly making weapons to use against our captors, make sure that everyone understands that this must be kept as secret as possible and that the weapons are  _durable_ , meaning that they aren't only able to be used one time, because those weapons will be our only means of defense once we're out of here most likely"

"How are we supposed to make weapons that will last?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but don't worry we'll think about it, to be honest I've given the plan a year to be fully realized which means it will have been four years since I have last seen my family, my little brother before I escape, and it will take me a while just to get back home once I  _have_  made my escape"

"No, you will not be here much longer, I think I am starting to see weapon options and the rest of the prisoners are probably doing the same, once they know you want their weapons to last you might find that it will be short work of doing so"

"Except you have  _no idea_ just how complicated my plan is, because part of it involves  _not_  arousing suspicions and also involves one section escaping at a time instead of all at once like a normal prison break would happen"

"And let me guess you would be part of the last group out right?"

"Exactly, oh and there wouldn't be any new prisoners since part of the plan also means making sure that each section is uninhabitable once prisoners have escaped"

"Sorry but that just won't work I'm afraid, you'll need to modify your plans once we have weapons because we are  _not_  doing this slowly once we have weapons"

"Do you  _really_  want to die that badly because that's part of why this has to be so slow"

"What do you mean?"

(Sighs) "I told you that they kept me under the influence of drugs these past three years, though mostly unsuccessful, what I haven't revealed yet is that they also revealed their defense strategies to me and that includes what they would do if a mass prison break was attempted. They will use poison gas that will kill us slowly and painfully and that is something I do not want for anyone, thus why this plan has to be done so slowly and carefully"

"Except that there might be a way past that defense mechanism...look for now just let us get started on the weapons and once we have them I will explain my thoughts on how to make a mass prison escape work in our favor without defenses activating"

"Fine, be careful"

"Will do"

It turned out that it would only take a week for Clair to get confirmation of durable weapons on everyone, because they had been planning for such a thing as soon as they heard of a plan to escape, as such they knew that the weapons had to last them the entire fight and beyond for survival and so except for a select few who deliberately waited until they heard word of needing weapons once someone received word about the escape plan they devised their own weapon to use against their captors. Once those who waited knew that weapons would be needed they made a weapon quickly and effectively since they hoarded supplies that would make a weapon and already had plans to do so if needed. Clair herself had needed the week to make a physical bow and arrow set since she had a feeling she would be needing her powers for other things, because while her powers would no longer drain her she felt it best to keep those in reserve as a surprise to the enemy, but she had been planning this escape for  _years_  and as such had gathered the needed materials to make just about any weapon possible, she just wasn't sure until it was time which weapon she would make

"Everyone has a weapon now"

"Okay now you said we could do a mass prison break without the defenses activating and killing everyone slowly and painfully, how?"

"Because I swiped a key a short while ago from one of the guards, and when checking I realized that the key was to the defense systems of this place, if I can get into the command center I can shut down their defenses which will allow us to escape the old fashioned way admittedly but without being killed by poison, granted that might mean loss of life but we're all tired of being prisoners here"

Clair thinks for a moment about her secondary plans and realized that she would have to improvise if she agreed to this and then realizes that she was willing to do so and as such gives a firm nod of her head

"Okay let's do it, I'm on your security team no questions asked, tell everyone that it's go time as of 0500 tomorrow, physical signal will be when they do roll call, let everyone know that once we reach the security room it will be lights out for ten minutes signifying we have control, everyone moves as fast as they can to the ships and makes their way to what they consider is a safe place, I already have a destination in mind for us by the way but we'll also have to be really, really fast"

"Okay, you have a solid weapon?"

"Bow and arrow set and I know how to use it"

The next day it was go time and it was indeed a fight to escape, very messy in some areas but there were people who escaped, including Clair's group and they were the one's that blew up the place of their imprisonment which meant no one else would be using that place ever again

"Okay so now what?"

"Now we head to Earth where I make contact with my family again and we find out where yours is"

"Wait...you know?"

"Knew the moment I saw you"

"Okay then, let's do it"

A month later they make it to Earth and Clair goes to the communication room and makes contact with her home for the first time in a while

"Clair Elisa Kerenai-Masaki to EDC base respond please"

"That person is dead, has been for three years now"

"Here's my verification codes then"

Clair sends out her codes and gets a quick response

"Those codes have been nullified, don't think you can get away with this again, leave or we will fire"

"Okay, then how about this?"

Clair sends a message which to most people would look like a bunch of letters mixed together to form a mess, but to a certain group it had a special meaning

_At the base_

"Sir I think you should take a look at this"

"What is it?"

"A message, but it's unique, very unique"

The officer looks at that message and speaks in a low shocked voice

"Only one person knows all those spoken languages, tell them they have clearance to land, I have some people to see"

The officer leaves and the communication person gets back to the ship

"Vessel you now have clearance to land follow my directions precisely or die"

Clair follows directions and sees her family waiting to greet her, but with weapons out just in case

*Guys it's me, I'm home after so long*

Her family recognized Clair and she's welcomed back with open arms, her companions are also welcomed and allowed to stay until their families could be located, and during that time she had a very long debriefing session and the rest of her group also told their stories

"Guys, Daichi I am so sorry you had to go through this, but I promise you that it's over, I am alive and am not leaving your sight for quite a while if ever again since I will abide by any decisions you make regarding my police and EDC career"

"We can't make any decisions about it now, but later we will discuss it"

"Clair..."

"I know Daichi, I missed you so much and worried for you, but I knew our family would keep you as safe as possible"

"Well I have a question for you"

"What is it Red Alert?"

"Do you know who hacked our files a little while after your shuttle exploded and we thought you dead?"

"Which files are you talking about specifically?"

"Any and all files in regards to Daichi and his true relationship with us and you, and a few files regarding Winspector and their connection to the EDC"

"Oh those files, I hacked them myself and buried them as deep as I could since I knew we were facing an enemy that had never come across the EDC before and as such I knew I would need to protect Daichi and Winspector as much as possible, though I'm sure by now that they know that Winspector is part of the EDC"

"Yeah they know, but it was a surprise as far as I could tell"

"Good"

"Now then about your companion..."

"I promised we'd find out where his family currently is since they are moved the moment something dangerous happens to one of them"

"They're on Mars right now actually due to some sort of experiment that they themselves wanted to try"

"Well, looks like you're going to Mars then"

"Agreed"

"Oh an Clair, no matter what is decided about your future you are  _never_  going into space except in one of your family members"

"Understood Galvatron, I didn't think I would be allowed otherwise and am not going to fight it, however right now I have a unit to talk to about me being alive after thinking me dead for so long"

"Agreed, and Clair, even if you're no longer part of the police or EDC you are still respected for doing both jobs to the best of your ability"

"I know"

Clair goes to the police station and isn't recognized immediately since there had been changes since she had last seen the station and all the officers there were new to her, as such she is escorted to Winspector headquarters which was empty at the time. An hour later she heard voices, two of which she recognized and two of which were completely new to her and as such she simply stayed sitting and waited until the door opened and the first one through was the new voice, but then it was Adam and he froze making the other two behind him unable to move and Mark then spoke up

"Adam can you move please?"

But Adam still couldn't talk or move until Clair spoke up, and that's only because Mark forced the issue

"Mark's right Adam both of you need to be in the office after all"

Mark pushes both through and then freezes as well, but regains his voice really quick

"Clair?...is it...is it really you?"

"Yes Mark, Adam, it's really me, I know you've thought me dead these last few years but there's an explanation, the EDC and more importantly my family already has the story and now it's your turn, once I let you guys know the story if my family hasn't already I am going to alert the Japanese branch about me being alive"

And with that Clair fills in her old team about the past three years while they fill her in on their half of the three years, that's when Clair finds out that her old Captain and the old Chief were both dead, killed in an attack at a police conference only six months earlier, but that they had never given up hope of finding her either alive or finding her remains to finally bury with full honors


	54. Chapter 54

"The only reason you were declared dead was because of politics getting in the way, and the EDC was insistent for some reason as well"

(Sighs) "I'm afraid you have me to blame for the EDC being insistent, they developed that policy when I left them for the terrorist group because I caused a lot of damage and destroyed bases with people in it, for a long time no one could get access to those areas so everyone was thought dead. Eventually they learned that everyone was actually alive but by that time emotions were worn thin and some had attempted suicide. As such the EDC developed the policy that for any explosion that has no immediate access everyone is declared dead until proven otherwise, as such there are ways to easily reactivate someone's status within the EDC, unfortunately I have no clue what's going on with police politics"

"Okay, by the way PTSD?"

"I hate it even more now and it's worse too"

"Punished?"

"Oh yeah, very inventive punishments too I might add"

"How bad did your temper get?"

"Don't ask, it was made worse by the escape attempts made before I got involved, as it is we're lucky the ultimate defense system was never activated"

"Right then, won't ask again, but what's going to happen now?"

"I honestly don't know, as of now I have no clue if I am going to be going back to being a police officer and EDC officer, one or the other, or find a whole new career to do"

"Oh there's a story you have to hear about your brother"

"Oh?"

"Yeah, the EDC decided that he should get some experience in a cockpit in case of an emergency or he decides to take up flying, they decided to go with training pilots due to the fact that it's the best and safest place to learn. During one of the flights he was in two near collisions, one was far enough away that the trainee was able to avoid the problem without any warnings, however just after the first avoidance the pilot turned and suddenly the TCAS (traffic collision and avoidance system) went off and told the pilots to descend while the other pilot suddenly climbed, once they avoided each other each pilot checked on their near miss partner and everything was okay, but it was still startling enough that the trainer grounded the trainee for the rest of that day and the next with orders to talk to someone before going back into the air to make sure that they were okay"

"And just how did you hear this story?"

"I was in the other plane and found out when I landed, and the reason why is because the Captain was demanding one of us get a pilots license for both planes and helicopters, something about how it's weird that the EDC didn't make this a requirement when there's a possibility of it being needed and that your adoptive father focused too much on sailing with you even if it did make the most sense at the time"

"Okay, well I have to get back to base since I have no home at the moment and we need to figure out everything in regards to work and other stuff, besides the paperwork to have me declared alive again is going to take forever"

"True enough, but first I think you would benefit from a visit to the graves of our Captain and Chief"

"True, take me there?"

"With pleasure"

Clair visits her former Captain and Chief and then spends the next two weeks simply starting her recovery period in earnest and waiting for the paperwork that stated that she was alive again, fortunately because of EDC policies it wasn't as long as it could have been but it was complicated and during those two weeks she and her family had long hard talks about her future and she ultimately came to the decision that she would go back to her old job after going through a modified academy experience, however there would be permanent changes in regards to how her work was managed, during those two weeks the Japanese branch had also come to visit Clair and there had been changes there as well, a new member had been added a year earlier after Hisako had been seriously injured one time and needed a long recovery period, both she and the new member now switched undercover duties back and forth between them and sometimes worked at the same time depending on what was needed

"Okay then, I report to the academy in a month to start with the new recruits, though since things are going to be modified I will go through the training faster than most will"

"Most?"

"Yeah, there are a few other recruits on the fast track like I am, something about a special unit that requires fast training"

"From raw recruits?"

"Erm, not quite, they're former military police that are being trained for the civilian sector from what I understand and they're the first of a new unit designed to take those with military police training, put them in a civilian setting and let the training of both groups work as one, a step up from SWAT as far as I understand, but I could be wrong about that"

"Okay we understand, Daichi will remain with us until you're on your own two feet again"

"Thanks, and thanks for taking care of him these past three years, even though it's partly because of my last will and testament I know that it's also because you genuinely care about him like you care about me"

"And Masaki-san your father"

"I know, but at the same time it was different with you guys, not entirely sure how but it was different"

"For now you two get to have time together since we're following academy rules"

"Agreed, the only time we didn't last time was because Daichi needed me at a home thus the exception that was made"

"Only until your father returned, but yes that was an exception that was made at need"

The two siblings spent a good amount of time together but also spent a bit of time apart deliberately and then Clair was off to the police academy once more for the modified training that was needed and after the first week everyone in the modified training realized just how intensified it was

"Move it or lose it buster!"

"Don't have to tell me twice...just how long has this been going on anyways?"

"About thirty minutes I think"

"Correction Carlos two hours, I've timed it with my watch"

"Right after breakfast, ouch, how did I lose track of time?"

"Think about it for a moment and you'll know"

"Oh...true enough and  _you've_  been up even longer than us Kerenai-Masaki"

"Just be glad the instructors didn't wake you guys up too or you'd be even worse than you are now in regards to energy and mood, and that's  _with_  breakfast"

"Except we're military trained"

"True, but trust me you wouldn't be able to handle it like I can, and that's for me to know and you to possibly find out in the future in regards to clearance levels"

"Understood, is this some kind of endurance test for us then?"

"Who knows with these instructors"

"For now though we have a good position I think that we can hold for a while"

"Possibly what this test is all about, for now though let's start shooting back and we'll ask our instructors about what's going on later"

"Agreed"

Ten minutes later one of the instructors called a halt to the shooting and the group came together to discuss what was the point of the exercise

"So as I'm sure you're aware we had a reason to do this particular exercise now instead of later"

"Indeed, so what was the point of the exercise, besides seeing how well we shoot?"

"As you have already partially guessed the test was about finding and holding a position at need, but there was another part of the test that was subtle, so subtle that you would never notice it on your own, at least most of you wouldn't be able to recognize it on your own"

With that the instructor looked directly at Clair seeing if she understood what he was talking about and by her facial expression he knew she did

"Trust and leadership"

"Yes, trust and leadership"

"What do you mean?"

"The instructors were testing to see if you trusted each other to lead in certain situations and follow properly and to see if you trusted someone you virtually don't know. You guys know and trust each other because of shared military background and the fact that you all have served together at some point in the same unit, brief though it may be, but for me all you know is that I basically needed my family's approval to come here, the instructors needed to see if you would trust and follow me if I took over for whatever reason"

"We know that you wake up even earlier than us for whatever reason and that the instructors seem to know and trust you"

"That's true, you still don't have full clearance to know about me but I am authorizing you guys to know that there are reasons behind why my family is so protective of me and that I am not normal in that I already have training that you might not have. I am not going to be part of your unit once this is all over with but at the same time we may come in contact again thus why you need to trust someone you don't know with your life, in case it comes up in actual practice which considering what you guys are going to be doing has a very high chance of happening"

"That actually makes sense then, what else is on the agenda for today?"

"More drills and some class time actually, and yes Kerenai-Masaki you need this class as well, but you're going to have to figure out for yourself just why I am requiring it"

They did shooting and hand to hand drills and then went to the classroom and Clair quickly realized why she was required to take this class, because it was a medical class and that day was specializing on how to talk someone down from a PTSD episode or something similar if it was at all possible, and with her first hand experience with PTSD it was a good idea to see what updated practices there were depending on scenarios

"Now then you can't always talk someone down from a PTSD episode, sometimes it will take another person but you  _can_ mitigate damage by keeping everyone as far away from the person having the episode as possible, and never and I do mean  _never_  back someone having a PTSD episode or similar into a corner, that will only make them even  _more_  dangerous"

"You're making this up"

"No he isn't, in fact he's downplaying just how dangerous someone having a PTSD episode can be, if they have any police or military training...well let's just say it won't be pretty if you can't talk them down or something similar"

"Kerenai-Masaki I wasn't expecting you in this class"

"Yeah well...you know why I am here even if you weren't expecting it"

"First hand experience of course, you're getting the updated procedures then?"

"Oh yeah, in fact I have a video you should see"

Clair brings up the competition she was in where she was acknowledged as a master of her specific martial arts and the cadets heard the referee say something, though they weren't sure what and Clair just stopped, though it was obvious that it still took a few moments for her to truly come back


	55. Chapter 55

"That's one method, but only if the person is trained to react to a code phrase that let's them know they're safe, and that training is intense and takes time, but it's just enough to break someone out of a PTSD episode since that phrase isn't part of their memories"

"Are you triggered just by fighting?"

"Nope, check with the resident psychiatrist or psychologist or therapist, or whatever you call him and ask him about my visit log"

(Sighs) "I'm almost afraid to ask, how long?"

"Two weeks now, started one week before training began and has only intensified since, knew from day one that I needed him"

"Let me guess daily visits and they're still not currently helping?"

"Yep, thinking of resorting to medication if this keeps up any longer, and that's with his approval and knowledge by the way"

"How long has it been since you've had such a severe episode?"

"Hm...sorry can't tell the class due to security clearances"

"Very well, in private?"

"In private"

Suddenly though an instructor interrupts the class and gives Clair a piece of paper who pales in shock and talks in low tones that were also codes that most people wouldn't recognize but didn't need to hear unless absolutely necessary and she knew that depending on what happened during training the specialized team would need to know the codes

"Anything we should know about Kerenai-Masaki?"

"No, family business that unfortunately I needed to immediately be aware of but it won't affect training...at least not our training, those further along in EDC training might be affected though so be on the alert for those students"

"Got it"

"And just how would she know what might affect training and what won't?"

"Sorry but like she just said clearances aren't high enough for you to know that, understand this even four of your fellow officers don't have clearance to know much about her unless it's needed and they automatically came with a higher security clearance than all of you cadets"

"Just how high are they compared to us?"

"They have the clearance to know the basics about my past should they ask for it, the reason behind my PTSD episode and my most recent bad period and can also get emergency clearance a lot faster than you guys if I determine it's needed"

"That's not fair"

"That's life for you, by the way why don't you four ask?"

"Simple, we don't need to know if it won't affect us, if it gets to that point tell us everything we're cleared for but not until then"

"Fine, by the way I also know something that no one else does about you four and what's going on in regards to why the unit is so special"

"You know about..."

"Yep"

"So does the academy"

"I know, now then I think class has been interrupted long enough, please continue instructor"

Class eventually ended and the normal academy routine continued, with the specialized unit training separately from the rest of the cadets at need and then a month after classes were interrupted a training session was interrupted, an important session, but what was going on was even more important

"Kerenai-Masaki you're needed out front...police car...not sure what else"

Clair's eyes go wide and  _runs_ to the front of the academy and immediately starts speaking in Cybertronian

*Prowl! What's happened to you?"

*Jazz is dead...hurts so much Clair, Ratchet said you might be able to stabilize me*

*I'll try, however I need you to stand down until then and I need to alert my superiors on what's going on, but first I have to know...how bad was the break?*

*Unconscious for three days, almost took my own life the day I woke up, just released yesterday, only been two weeks*

(Sighs) *Understood, go to sleep and I'll start soon*

Prowl does indeed go to sleep and Clair explains the situation with her superiors who give her permission to handle Prowl's situation with no repercussions on her own training. Five hours later the academy chief came to where she currently was

"How is he?"

(Sighs) "I'm not entirely sure to be honest, I've done all I can but a broken bond...that's something I can't deal with"

"Bond?"

"Yes, Prowl and Jazz bonded a few months ago, there are basically four types of bonds, twin bonds where there are two Cybertronians who are twins from the start, family bonds where two Cybertronians are from the same family, gestalt bonds where five members of one unit become literally one robot and a bond between lovers, female and male robots to be exact, the last bond is basically what we would call marriage except...deeper. Prowl and Jazz had a family bond that was very similar to a twin bond, it was the only way to save Prowl's life according to Jazz because the damage was so great, the problem is that just like a twin bond or marriage bond it can kill the other half of the bond if one member is killed, especially suddenly in battle, even the most stable of bonds can kill the other half. That Prowl is currently still alive is the  _only_  thing going for us right now and to be honest I have no clue how he even survived to this point considering just how bad off he is mentally and emotionally"

"Why was Prowl sent here instead of remaining at the base?"

"That I don't know, but there's a chance that my family is unaware of Prowl's presence here"

"How soon will we know, and what do you mean they might not be aware of his presence here?"

"Tomorrow afternoon at the latest, trust me on that one, as for the other half of the question, there are slight inflection tones that suggest possible lying that you wouldn't have detected since you don't know Cybertronian"

"Very well, so there's nothing else for us to do?"

"Correct, I will be staying here until further notice to keep an eye on him so you'd best bring a cot in here or something similar if you don't want me sleeping on the floor which I can and will do again at need"

"We'll bring a cot and an alarm, and you're off duty except to him until you tell us otherwise"

"I can do some of the training still I just need to keep a regular eye on him is all"

"Okay, you let your instructors know when you have to leave, just tell them that you have academy business else where's under my orders"

"Is that what we're calling him now?"

The chief realizes he stepped over a line by calling Prowl academy business, but he also had a very good reason why he had done so

"Only for the rest of the cadets who aren't cleared to know about him, your instructors will be told the truth immediately"

"Okay...okay I understand, sorry for snapping at you"

"No, you're worried about a family member and I stepped over a line without even thinking about it you had every right to be mad at me for how I was apparently treating Prowl"

The next day the academy found out that the Cybertronians  _didn't_  know about Prowl being at the academy, and they found out through a blistering phone call from Ratchet

"Clair there's a phone call from your family, someone named Ratchet called asking if we've seen Prowl which I admitted that he's here and now he's ranting, something about leaving without permission, which you suspected, welding to medical tables and...wrench throwing?"

"That's Ratchet alright, is he still on the phone?"

"Yep"

"Give it to me and I'll settle him down as much as I can"

Clair is given the phone and speaks rapid Cybertronian in an effort to calm Ratchet down, but that doesn't happen the rest of Clair's checkup time with Prowl, and Prowl was getting worse as well and Clair told Ratchet that who said someone would be by to pick Prowl up and that Ratchet would keep Prowl in stasis for an indefinite amount of time

*Understood Ratchet, let me know when you're waking him up so that I can yell at the idiot myself*

Clair hangs up the phone and gets back to classes. Two weeks later an unscheduled test happens, one that Clair doesn't even realize is a test because of the fact that the instructors and the government wanted to test the newest unit to see what they would do in that scenario

"Kerenai-Masaki we need to run, now"

"Right"

They escape and get to a semi-secure location

"Okay now what?"

"Now we use our fake identities"

"Okay that makes sense, we don't want to be found do we?"

"Nope, now remember, your identity is your life, never reveal who you really are, as such always remain in disguise, if you haven't developed a personality for your second identity I would do so now so as to keep yourself safe when outside, that also means keeping on the disguise of your second identity, even in the privacy of your temporary new quarters because you never know when someone might come looking for you second identity"  
"But Kerenai-Masaki..."

"No but Kerenai-Masaki's guys, it's for your own safety and that's final"

"What about you though, don't you also have to form a new personality?"

"Oh I already did that a few years ago, otherwise I would have fallen back into old habits that I really can't afford to fall back into for everyone's safety"

"What kind of old habits?"

"Habits that kept me alive for seven very long years of my life"

"Just one question, how is our identity our life?"

"If the enemy finds out your true name they will hunt you and your family down to kill you, they are that ruthless and as such the reason why your identity is your life and why you can never be your true self until the situation is resolved"

"How do you know how ruthless the enemy is?"

"I thought I recognized them in our escape, I could be wrong but...as you need to know everything about me I will give you what you are cleared for, starting with the fact that I am an EDC kid"

And so Clair gives them the full story that she could about herself and they understood that she was now in charge for safety

"Okay you lead we follow"

"Good, now then I am going to use an already established identity, that will let the government know that I at least am still alive, trust me right now that's more important than getting our academy back or even trying to find other survivors"

"Okay, how are we going to do that without alerting the enemy though?"

"Oh I have my ways, ways that are safe"

"When will this be done?"

"Not tonight that's for sure, tonight we stay out in the streets to keep the enemy from figuring us out even sooner...look as of now they are expecting us to go to a police station or someplace else that we would feel safe, but by staying out in the streets we keep them guessing on where we are and what our next move is, which might be to leave town completely, but we won't make that decision until we're more settled in our situation, I can tell you guys are in about as much shock as I am and we don't need to be making hasty moves right now, those would only get us killed"

"Problem, with shock we need food, water, and shelter to keep us warm and we're not going to get that with your plan"

"That's where you're wrong, I have everything I need right here in this bag, say hello to MRE's and shelter boys"

She gets out her things from the bag she always carried and they are shocked to see how prepared she was

"This would last you four days at need just yourself, for us it will last only the night but that's okay since you said you had a plan for tomorrow"

"Exactly, we get warm food and shelter without the risk that doing so now would bring, now then who here likes what or is allergic to what the MRE has?"

Clair passes out what was safe for everyone in the MRE since it turned out one person was lactose intolerant which meant that for one person two of the meals weren't safe for them to eat but the others were, and no one complained about it being an MRE since they were all military and used to such meals, what they  _did_ ultimately complain about was the fact that Clair wouldn't sleep in the tent like they wanted her to

"Don't you trust us?"

"Trust yes, want to sleep with you guys no, but that's not for tonight, if need be I'll explain in the morning but for now just understand that if it were any other situation I would have no problem sleeping with you guys" (thinks) " _they can't know that while I trust that they wouldn't do anything I don't trust myself enough to safely sleep tonight because while they know I have PTSD they don't know just how much more dangerous I am now and how even medication wouldn't work tonight, as such I will take watch for them and then tomorrow I will explain everything and have a decent nights sleep in a hotel_ "

The next day the group learns about Clair taking watch and also how Clair would let them know that she at least was alive still, first she simply checked her secondary bank account and then decided to take everyone out for a decent breakfast

"Okay the government knows I'm alive, time for breakfast"

"Just how do they know?"

"They keep an eye on both accounts that I have, both my primary account with my real identity and the secondary account made when I was given my second identity in case of emergency, as soon as there is any sort of activity on either account the government knows about me being alive and my current situation in a limited capacity"

"Okay then, you said something about breakfast?"

"Yep, time to eat breakfast, and then start planning for tonight since I want to sleep in a hotel, actually I need a hotel desperately with one of you on watch"

"What for?"

"Because of why I didn't sleep last night with you guys. I trust you guys with my life to not do anything with me, however while you know I have PTSD you don't know just how dangerous I can be during a really bad episode and have a sudden increase in stress, even the medication I am currently on wouldn't have worked thus why I was on watch last night"

"And why you need the hotel and us on watch, we're watching both for your episodes and for possible danger to us"

"Exactly, you already know the rules about someone having a PTSD episode nightmare, that's even more important with me because I will kill you if I get the chance"

"Understood"

That night Clair got a decent amount of sleep, if somewhat interrupted and a week later they learned that this was all an exercise meant to test the unit to see just how much more training might be needed before being cleared to work

"An exercise?"

"Yes, now then all of you aren't quite ready for active duty but you're closer than the rest of the cadets, Kerenai-Masaki you're the closest due to your past which I assume they now know?"

"Yep"

"Got it, oh by the way an EDC officer came by yesterday saying that there's paperwork that you need to sign, something about permission for someone named Daichi to take a trip some where's and how they can't do it themselves this time for some reason"

"Got it, Daichi is my little brother and I'm technically his legal guardian though the Cybertronians can take over at need and the EDC officers are also allowed emergency permission to sign paperwork, though that's mainly Captain Faireborn a few others also have that permission at need"

Clair signs the paperwork and then receives a shock  _no one_  in her family expected. Back when Prowl had come he had given her the bare details of what had happened, all she knew was that Jazz was dead and the bond broken and the backlash had been bad enough for Prowl to almost die, the family would give her more details only days after they had come to pick up Prowl explaining that Jazz had been lost on a simple mission to Russia, one that should have had no other risks than minor armor damage due to the fact that the mission was helping rebuild a town after a devastating storm. According to eye witness accounts a sudden flash flood arose and Jazz had made sure that everyone made it to safety, but just as he had gotten the last person out of harms way from the debris he was hit in the chest with wood and metal and it had been the metal that had managed to go completely through the armor piercing his spark, or that was what everyone had believed at the time. What had actually happened was a near miss that knocked him unconscious and into forced stasis that was so sudden that it was only believed that the bond had been broken. But that wasn't actually the case, what had really happened was that the bond was protected from the shock of injuries and the long stasis period because Jazz was in  _critical_  condition for a long while and could have been lost at any point in time but wasn't but Jazz also knew that he was most likely believed dead and that the bond wouldn't reestablish itself without close proximity so he went to Clair first since she could confirm it was him


	56. Chapter 56

"Hey Clair, there's a car out front that looks like it's been through a car compactor but escaped before being completely destroyed and we have no clue how it got here, and with your experience..."

"Right, let me get my tools first though"

Clair goes outside and starts with the engines and quickly recognizes the type of engine it was

"Wait a minute...you're Cybertronian, designation?"

*Jazz, I'm home Clair*

The academy instructors didn't understand a word of what had just been said but they could tell from her physical reactions that Clair was in very mild shock

*Lies, Jazz died over a month ago*

*Proof in bag*

Clair uses her special medical device and it confirms that it was indeed Jazz

*You're alive, but the bond...*

*Don't know entirely but it's shielded somehow, fix me up enough to get me to Ratchet and Prowl?*

*Of course, and you have a  _lot_  of explaining and debriefing to do and have done for you*

It would take Clair three days but finally both Prowl and Ratchet came to the academy per Clair's request and the bond instantly flared to life making Prowl gasp in surprise and Ratchet look in concern

"I'm alright Ratchet...or I think I should be but...what I'm feeling...it's not possible"

"It's very possible Prowl, Jazz is alive and in the garage, I've done what I can for him but now it's Ratchet's turn, but you needed to be here too since I know how you've been since his apparent death"

Jazz barely wakes up due to very low energy because while he could convert regular gas into his normal energy source it wasn't functioning properly thus while he was given a full tank on a regular basis he was only getting about a third of the actual energy he received according to Clair's calculations, and she herself just couldn't fix that kind of problem

"Hey...Prowl...Ratchet...sleep now"

"Clair?"

"I can't do anymore than what I have, he is barely getting any energy from gas and his tanks go empty by the end of the day, I sometimes am able to make sure he isn't below half a tank but that's actually only been once that I managed that, it's up to you now, though I'm sure having Prowl near is going to be a big help due to their bond"

"Okay, it's going to take a bit of time to arrange transportation, but until then we'll stay with Jazz and do what we can to keep him as stable as you have"

"Thanks, and you can let the rest know now too, I deliberately kept it to only the two of you for a reason"

"Oh we understand why you did that, and I am going to keep it that ways as well, just until he's much more stable than what he currently is, only the Primes and Galvatron have to be informed for now"

Ratchet and Prowl get Jazz back to headquarters while Clair gets back to training, a week later the announcement of Jazz being alive makes the news and the academy does a special lesson on keeping an eye out for news about the EDC and Cybertronians because that could affect them in ways that they wouldn't know until later, especially those doing specialized training with the EDC

"Wait, how would regular police officers be affected by the EDC?"

"Riots, protests, any number of things really, things can evolve and escalate  _fast_  with EDC, faster than most situations if I were to be honest"

"How come?"

"That's...a bit too complicated for you guys just entering police work I'm afraid, you'll only understand through experience why things develop faster than normal when the EDC is involved in some way"

"Is that the truth or are you just trying to avoid answering us again?"

"Kerenai-Masaki is telling the truth everyone, an EDC officer was trying to explain just how fast things can develop around them during a conference that involved regular police and the EDC and I didn't understand what he was trying to say, only a month later an incident involving the EDC happened and I was involved and things developed pretty fast, over the past thirty years I have learned to be prepared for the worst whenever I hear that the EDC is involved in any form and have at least two plans in my mind and written out in case things go south, sometimes three if I know that they're going to be involved ahead of time"

"How new were you to the force?"

"Two months out of the academy and an official officer"

"Ouch, that's rare"

"It is indeed rare but it happens, we got lucky with my first incident in that things were resolved pretty quickly and the damage was minimal, any longer..."

"Any longer and things would have been much much worse, just how minimal are we talking about by the way?"

"Only property damage and minor injuries, minor being that the worst was a person with a broken leg, wrenched shoulder and a very mild concussion"

"Yeah, that's considered minimal alright, when it gets to deaths being involved it is much, much worse, not only  _because_  of casualties but also property damage can get into the millions if not billions of dollars worth of damage"

"You're right, the overall damage was only sixty thousand dollars and that's only because both a fire station and police station sustained enough damage that they were out of commission for three months each"

"Okay then we need to know for the future about how the EDC can affect us"

"Exactly...especially if you factor in what some of you might have heard about seventeen years or so ago depending on how old you are and what you were doing at the time"

"Seventeen...Clair Elisa Kerenai-Masaki..."

"Hey I thought the academy had my records"

"They do, unfortunately they're not complete for some reason"

"I'll be fixing that ASAP then"

"What's wrong with seventeen years?"

"You don't want to know, just trust me on that you  _really_  don't want to know what's going on with the seventeen years issue, though I do have to ask were you part of the force at the time?"

"Rookie officer and it was  _bad_ , three times the normal calls for a month solid just to support the EDC in their mission, and if it wasn't support it was other issues"

"Did it settle after the month?"

"Not exactly, what happened was the EDC kept things secret from us bi-weekly instead and also rotated the stations just to keep the strain off of us"

"How long did that last?"

"A solid year, it eventually tapered off to a still slightly higher but manageable rate for another three years before going back to normal"

"Right, well hopefully that should never happen again"

"Agreed, now then on to other lessons for today"

A month later Clair and the newest specialized unit were cleared for duty and all of them were going to be working out of the same station at least temporarily

"So feels good to be back with Winspector?"

"Definitely, how have the Japanese branch been while I was away?"

"Stressed in some ways, Ryoma the most since he's the leader of Winspector with Masaki dead"

"I would think after about four years Ryoma would be used to his duties"

"Yes and no, there's...there's something that's keeping him from fully accepting his duties and his place as the successor to Masaki"

Clair thinks about it and then realizes what's going on

"I think I know why Ryoma hasn't fully accepted his place as dad's successor, it's something that should have been done a long time ago but was never able to be done due to a combination of my grief and very, very bad timing, it's something you would have been able to do yourself Mark had you known, unfortunately I never got the chance to tell you anything other than that you were in charge if something ever happened to me"

"Maybe now you should take care of it"

"Oh I already did so the day I graduated from the academy...again, in fact I should be getting a call within the next few days if I estimated things right"

Suddenly the phone rang and when Adam answered he said that it was Ryoma and that it was for Clair

*Hey Ryoma...it's legitimate...it should have been given to you a long time ago but circumstances meant that you never received it...dad would be so proud of you Ryoma...okay see you soon then...bye*

Clair hangs up and the team pretends to give her the privacy of the phone call even though everyone understood her half of the conversation due to the requirement of being fluent in Japanese, but they got the basic gist that Ryoma had received Clair's package and was doing better hopefully in regards to his leadership, or if not immediately than soon

"Now then I believe we have patrol to do right now so that's what I'm going to be doing, alongside the member I am unfamiliar with"

"Okay, see you guys in a few hours then"

Unfortunately they would only be on patrol for an hour before trouble came up and Clair had to use her powers to protect herself and her partner with her shields, and then she formed various weapons until they could get their suits, mostly a bow and arrow but other weapons as well, but the bow and arrow had the furthest range without Winspector weapons

"Okay tell me you have a plan B in case backup doesn't get to us in time"

"Sorry Kerenai-Masaki no such luck, you?"

"Maybe, but it would be really risky and most likely wouldn't work but once I get a plan B going I can also make up other plans on the fly at need"

"How?"

"Training, lots and lots of training"

"Okay, so any weak points you've discovered?"

"Eyes, mouth interestingly enough and...is that?...hit them when they stand dead center where there's a red plate and it shuts them down completely"

"Works for me"

Fifteen minutes later the fight was over, but not without casualties, seven EDC officers, six police officers and three Cybertronians were gone and two more were in critical condition with Ratchet, First Aid and Hook working on them, Hook being the one to go between the two patients this time

"How are they guys?"

"Not good I'm afraid, we've done what we can but..."

"But the rest is up to them, I understand"

"Galvatron...there's more"

"What's wrong?"

"Remember that explosion about a year before Clair came back?"

"What explosion guys?"

"Sorry Clair but I'm afraid you weren't told because we thought they were fine...unfortunately that isn't the case, turns out that regular check ups didn't catch the fact that they've been having system problems for months now, they're lucky they're not dead right now, low spark energy, almost cracked casings and their Energon systems are about as bad as one who would have been in long term starvation mode for survival a long time back before the wars"

"The damage lowers their chances doesn't it?"

"By a lot, in fact...we may need to do bedside vigil to...to say our goodbyes and make sure they don't die without someone by their side at the end"

"But the bond..."

"May have been stable since you yelled at Jazz, but unfortunately is making things worse and there's nothing I can do, it would be like trying to do something about the bond between the twins, the bond between Optimus and Elita-One is different enough that no one would mess with that bond, twin bonds or bonds like what Prowl and Jazz have can normally be dealt with carefully but this time...this time it's too dangerous with how unstable they already are"

"Right, Adam, tell the Captain that I at least am going back to EDC base and will remain there until further notice, if he asks tell him I have a personal issue regarding family to deal with, if he asks for further information tell him...tell him that family is injured badly enough that I want to stay with them for now, and tell the Japanese branch what's going on, they deserve to know the truth after everything we've been through together"

They get Prowl and Jazz back to base where rotating everyone but Clair the Cybertronians stood vigil for two and a half days before their suffering was finally over and the two passed away

"It's finally over Clair"

"Yeah, just wish it could have been peaceful instead of wracked with pain"

"I think...I think they felt very little near the end, even if they were aware the whole time, they probably also felt our efforts to make their suffering minimal if not completely eliminated"

Clair grips her locket tight at the moment needing it's comfort even with her family with her she needed the locket to keep herself from drowning in grief and possibly doing something stupid

"Clair are you okay?"

"Not entirely, I think I need something to do before I do something stupid when...when will the actual service be?"

"Three hours"

"Understood"

Part of why the service to take them to their final resting place was so soon was because everyone had basically already said goodbye during those two and a half days, now all that was left was getting a ship prepared to take them into space since both had requested to be shot into the sun when they were gone if they died on Earth, if they had died on Cybertron they would have been melted down per their instructions since while Cybertronians had adopted their human allies way of burial the Cybertronians still ultimately chose how their remains were taken care of at the end. Three hours later they were in space and ready to jettison the caskets into the sun, something that had been designed by Wheeljack many many years earlier, it ensured that the caskets would reach their destination instead of winding up where they didn't want them by accident

"Goodbye guys, we'll miss you until we see you again"

Five hours later they were back on Earth and Clair was getting ready to attend something she hadn't gone to for several years

"Well are you ready for the annual ball?"

"Yes"

They arrive at the annual police ball and things start out calm and then Clair decides to do something else she hadn't done in years

*Daichi, come out with me to the dance floor?*

*Of course, Cybertronian dance of return?*

*Yes, that's perfect since I don't think it's quite clicked in their minds yet that I  _am_ home finally, even with me having gone out on patrol recently*

Clair leads Daichi out onto the dance floor and starts the Cybertronian dance of return and several officers quickly realize what's going on

"Hey is that...it is, it's the Cybertronian dance of return but why..."

"Of course, this is her way of giving us proof that it's real, that she's finally really home and relatively safe, we've all been so blind stupid that she's resorted to that very special dance"

"So shall we join with the Cybertronian dance of welcome back?"

"Once the dance is done yes, with her naturally in the center"

"What I'm wondering is why the dance of return even requires two people to begin with"

"Started with the fact that they were forced into a war and as such entire units or at least multiple officers were returning after being thought lost all at once so that entire group would do the dance, the reason why it's still done when it's only one person returning is to give visible proof that it isn't an illusion that the person also doing the dance is seeing their lost comrade as well, it's always a trusted friend or for us humans family member to do this, why it isn't done also with the groups is beyond me"

Fortunately several EDC officers were also there and overheard the conversation

"Oh that's an easy one, because the medics were always there and would have proven it's real already via their medical scanners and as such as soon as the dance is started the medic would let the rest know that it was real and that their friends had truly returned to them, the reason why someone is also there even solo is because sometimes the medic would doubt their sensors, especially if the warrior was special in some way"

"Still don't understand what makes a group different from a solo person"

"Okay, let me put it this ways, if several of your fellow officers were missing on a training mission and then suddenly they were back and doing something unique to your station it is much easier to believe it's real since several people are doing the same thing together, however if only one survivor is found then it's much harder to believe because you have proof that everyone else is dead and there should be no survivors yet there are"

"Nope didn't help in the slightest"

"Okay, basically if there's a big group of people doing the same thing than it's happening for real, but if one person is doing something than there's a chance that it's just an illusion thus why even if there's only one person saying that they're home there are two people doing the same dance as proof that it's really happening"

"Okay that actually made sense"

The dance Clair and Daichi does is finished and then the next song starts and the entire force surrounds Clair in a circle and starts the Cybertronian dance of welcome back which Clair appreciates because it meant that they finally understood she was really home after three very long years of being thought dead because of an enemy, yes they subconsciously knew she was back because they were receiving updates on her retraining from the academy but it wasn't truly clicking that it was about her because they  _couldn't_  believe she was home, they mentally and emotionally couldn't afford to after having lost their two leaders so recently, leaders that had always held out hope that she was alive some where's, it was the only way to protect themselves and Clair had understood that, but she also understood that the dance was needed for them to heal and understand that she was home and wouldn't do anything to make them lose her again in that way

"Welcome home Clair Elisa Kerenai-Masaki, we're sorry it's taken us so long to truly acknowledge it"

"It's okay I do understand that what was going on was mental and emotional protection, just as I understand that this dance was needed to truly heal and understand that I really am finally home and won't do anything to make you guys lose me like that again, that doesn't mean I can't die in the line of duty, but the way you thought you lost me will never happen again"

Once the dance was done a new officer asked a question that had been coming all night long

"Why do we even learn those two Cybertronian dances anyways?"

"Partly because they're our allies through the EDC and as such we honor them by learning the dances, the other part is because we had no way of identifying someone in Clair's situation until the two dances were introduced to us several decades ago"

"Okay then, I have a second question then regarding the two siblings, how on  _earth_  were you two able to do that dance so quickly, especially in your shoes Kerenai-Masaki?"

"Practice, lots and lots of practice, which we can't get into for security reasons, now then someone I know has school tomorrow so it's time we went home and to bed"

"But Clair..."

"No buts mister you know full well the rules regarding school"

"Including the fact that we've been shut down for a solid week per government orders"

That stops Clair short since it was an unexpected revelation

"Why were you guys shut down?"

"Government suspects there are more problems than just water pipes bursting so they've shut the school down for a complete and through inspection to make sure that the building is structurally safe, as such school has been shut down for at least a week, happened an hour before school ended so we were allowed to finish the day and then went home like normal, any earlier and we would have been sent home early and I would have told you why I was home earlier than normal"

"Why didn't you tell me as soon as we got home?"

"Didn't think about it and to be honest thought you had been told even though it happened on a Friday and thus right as the weekend began"

"I'll be looking into that shortly then since they didn't tell me"

"Oops, sorry"

"Not your fault, it really shouldn't be your responsibility to inform me of this it really is supposed to be the schools, well then since that's the case we can stay longer...in fact I have a show for you guys out in the courtyard"

"Sure"

They all go to the courtyard and Clair gives further proof of her survival, she uses her powers to make a show out of the fountain, something she had practiced long enough to make it seamless and  _very_ entertaining

"I haven't seen that in a long, long time"

"Oh?"

"Yep, Clair first did it right before dad died and continued practicing in secret to get it to the level she has, she can do this with fire and water by the way"

"How has she not lost her touch?"

"That's her secret, I know because I'm her brother but that's pretty much the only reason"

"Very well I won't ask again, I'm sure that there are security clearances needed to know certain things about her"

"Exactly, the fact that she's good with languages, my being her little brother, the reasons behind her last name, and where she is working is all public knowledge but not much else beyond that, once you really get into her past you need higher and higher security clearance to learn more and more about her until you get to the top level where you have access to  _everything_ about her, only POTUS really has the clearances needed, and the Joint Chief of Staffs even if she's not military"

"And as soon as a cadet graduates, except in an emergency they learn about her powers"

"Exactly, there's a reason behind that but I'm afraid I can't tell you for security reasons"

"Just how high is security for you by the way?"

"Not quite as high as for Clair but high enough"

"How is she really by the way?"

(Sighs) "I was wondering when you were going to ask that, a little worse than right before we thought we lost her, but not as bad as the original period, according to my family it was  _bad_  originally, she knows her signs and symptoms and knows when to seek help, at most right now she's a little more tired than normal but is coping well"

"And the fact that she's lost family so recently?"

"I don't know how this will affect her since it just happened, but maybe...maybe having time to properly say goodbye and prepare for their loss will help slightly, I just don't know for sure though"

"Well we know that there was a period she was visiting someone regularly  _and_ taking the medication, if she's not as bad as before how bad was it?"

"Not only was she seeing someone regularly and taking medication, she also wasn't eating much, and while a lower appetite was expected after the loss of dad this was a dramatic loss, and what she was saying whenever she refused food was concerning as well"

The officer asked the next question with dread knowing that it was going to be bad


	57. Chapter 57

"What was she saying?"

"She switched between saying that the food was bad and she wouldn't eat bad food ever again and saying that she couldn't eat yet because of punishment meant that it wasn't time to eat, and by bad food we discovered it meant drugged"

"That's how they got the drugs into her system for the first full year and almost a second"

"Exactly"

"Well then, we'll just have to keep an eye on her as will your family I presume"

"Yes we will, I know the signs as well as anyone having lived with her for a very long while, even if it's been interrupted"

"Than how can you know?"

"Trust me I know, unfortunately I can't explain how I know with so little contact but I know"

"Quick question, I know you said that she has everything under control, but what's the worst that can happen if she loses control right now?"

"The worst that could happen to anyone right now is getting really,  _really_  wet"

Clair entertained everyone for two hours before stating that she was finished for the moment, part of that was due to hunger but the other part was because she had simply had enough showing what she could do with her powers to the rest of her fellow officers

"So how long do these events last anyways?"

"Into the early hours of the morning typically, part of that depends on what's going on though, you guys desperately need to be in my company now that you truly know I am here, so it will definitely go on until early morning hours, don't worry the city will be safe even with everyone here sleeping"

Eventually Clair realizes that it was time to go home due to the fact that Daichi was exhausted from staying up so late

"Okay, time for us to go home and someone to get some much needed sleep"

"But I'm...not tired sis...I can...Mada...mewo...samasu"

Daichi slips into Japanese he was so tired and starts to fall over but doesn't because a nearby officer catches him for Clair

"Right Daichi, you fell asleep trying to tell me you can still stay awake, time to take little brother home and to bed, he's done for the moment"

"I'm wondering if he underestimated how exhausting grief can be and is"

"Doubt it all things considered, problem is he's much more susceptible to illness than most people for reasons I am not getting into so he might be coming down with something and not know it yet"

Ultimately it would turn out that Daichi was having a mild reaction to a new medication he was taking on a regular basis. The next day Clair and Daichi were simply enjoying time together as brother and sister instead of minor and legal guardian (it was unfortunately a necessary thing most times due to Daichi being a minor and unable to make any legal decisions for himself) when suddenly Clair saw trouble and knew what she had to do

*Daichi time to leave*

*But Clair...*

*No but Clair's mister*

Clair gets Daichi to Metroplex and switches to Cybertronian deliberately

*Metroplex get Daichi to Cybertron through the space bridge  _immediately_!*

Daichi is shoved into the space bridge and suddenly finds himself on Cybertron to very startled family members

"Daichi...what are you doing here?"

"No idea Ultra Magnus, Clair shoved me into the space bridge speaking in Cybertronian"

"Understood, looks like we have to take care of you for now for whatever reason"

Meanwhile back on Earth, the EDC officers knew something was up with the way Clair was acting and asked a valid question

"Are the other kids in danger?"

"No, I just saw a terrorist group that I knew from back when I was with one myself by force, they're the kind that will go after my family when they find out about me, but no one I am associated with"

"Good"

It would turn out though that a few other EDC kids did get involved during the next two weeks due to the fact that the group stupidly decided to attack the police station she worked at with the kids waiting for their parents to finish up some reports about the accident they had been involved in

"Hey Kerenai-Masaki do we have permission to kill them?"

"I would prefer them alive for questioning, but if it's you or them you have my tacit permission to kill them"

"You heard her guys"

That fight would end with three of the terrorists dead and the rest captured

"Now then, I want to be involved in the questioning just to see if they do indeed remember me or if they attacked me mostly because I went and decided to wear clothing that I wore during those seven years deliberately"

"Agreed, though they also attacked you while you were in uniform so they might actually recognize you"

The leader is the first to be interviewed and it was established that they did indeed recognize Clair, and had actually tried to find any weaknesses to exploit

"We found out about your new name and your brother, quickly found out that your father was dead but we couldn't find your brother for some reason"

"And you never will, I made sure the day I saw you that he would be safe from harm caused by you guys trying to use him against me"

"Now then why were you after Clair?"

"Simple, I knew her from her time as a terrorist, didn't realize she was actually a good guy and wanted to get back at her for what the group she was with did to us that one time"

(Sighs) "I knew that was the case somehow, just wish that it hadn't been, by the way if you had gone after anyone else you would be in even more trouble, as it is I promised the rest of the EDC that their kids were safe and you almost made me a liar"

"Not intentionally, group had orders to leave all the kids but your brother alone"

"Right then, time to question the rest of the group"

The rest of the group gave the same story about wanting to get back at Clair for her time with the terrorists that forced her to join to protect her family and also confirmed their orders to leave the rest of the EDC kids alone

"So now what?"

"Now...now we give them to international courts to decide their fate and I get to deal with a possibly irate brother"

"Where did you send him anyways?"

"Sorry not telling"

Clair then goes to Cybertron to get Daichi and tell him why he was sent away and for the next two and a half years things are basically routine, Clair is an EDC officer and regular police officer who specializes in rescue work with Winspector, Daichi goes to school in America and Japan and the Cybertronians deal with alien threats with the help of the EDC when suddenly everything changed in an instant

"Okay everyone I need to make a quick phone call and then I need you to follow me picking up what civilians we can"

Clair grabs the phone and dials a number she knew by heart

*Ryoma do you remember that location I gave you a few years ago?...good go there picking up what civilians you can for the moment and use your pass code, once things are settled get civilians on hunts to the sky...you'll find out what I mean eventually...bye*

Clair then leads the group to her own location getting what civilians she could to come with her and also made sure to get her brother knowing she would be useless with worry otherwise

"Clair where are we?"

"It doesn't really have a name, but this is basically an underground city, one that I had built years ago in preparation for this day, now hopefully Continuity of Government is happening in regards to the President of the United States and that mess, but for now all we can do is worry about ourselves and our survival, while also planning a resistance so that we can eventually take back our country"

"And if there isn't a form of government once we're free?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it"

"Very well, is it safe to assume that you planned ahead in regards to food and water?

"Yes I have, the only thing I haven't fully thought of is fresh air, but don't worry we'll have an endless supply of oxygen, it just won't be fresh is all once the system is fully booted up"

"To prevent detection from the enemy"

"Exactly"

And so they start getting to work not knowing just how long it would take for them to free not only America but the rest of the world as well, or the trials that they would face during that time


	58. Chapter 58

_Year one_

Clair would meet her husband in the underground city and was also captured on a mission to get supplies that were still needed from the outside world due to the fact that they weren't quite able to produce a few food items on their own yet, but hopefully soon. She would be tortured for six months eventually being freed but permanently blind

_Year two_

"Are you sure about this Clair?"

"Yes I'm sure, if I'm going to be sidelined for the next five or six years than I might as well make myself useful by being the coordinator on topside missions and learn the paperwork, even if it is all in braille"

"Five years? I thought it was only going to be until you could effectively fight blind"

"Sorry daddy, but you and I both have duties that will keep us here for the next five years"

"D...daddy...are you saying that you're...that we're going to be..."

"Yes, as long as things go completely right we're going to be parents about nine months from now"

_Year three_

"Push Clair push! You're almost there!"

"Daichi!"

"Your brother's right Clair...just a little more...and she's out...oh Clair we have a daughter...a beautiful daughter"

Clair hears her daughter and wishes she could see her but knows that life is what it is

"Give her to me and I'll feed her"

"Sorry sis, but you need rest first, doctor's orders, and by the way he gave me these orders to give to you since he wasn't sure if he would be here for the birth or not"

"Fine, I can't deny my exhaustion"

"Oh...and I have something to tell you later"

"Really?"

Daichi switches to Japanese to keep the conversation semi-private

*Yes, but only once you can concentrate on the news sis, besides since you're effectively sidelined now I have some paperwork to deal with since you made me second-in-command for some reason*

*Okay you didn't have to switch to Japanese to tell me this*

*True, but the reason I switched is because I have to report that I  _might_  have received word on our Cybertronian family, but I don't know yet*

*Get it checked out*

A few hours later Daichi is back and Clair is rested for the moment

"So what is it you have to tell me?"

"The fact that you're going to be an aunt like I'm an uncle"

"Wait...you never said anything about marrying someone or seeing someone"

"Yeah...it just kind of happened, we met a few months ago and instantly clicked, I proposed three days ago, we got married yesterday and today she said that she was pregnant, that she had it confirmed right before you went into labor, I meant to tell you sis but everything happened so fast that I just didn't have the chance to"

"Wow, my baby brother is going to be a father himself...wait you just turned nineteen mister! I know you're an adult in the eyes of the American government but still we need you more than ever"

"I know, but who knows how long we'll be down here"

(Sighs) "I know you're right, but still, I guess I just can't help but be protective of you since dad made me your legal guardian"

"I know, but hey at least I  _am_  a legal adult"

"You win, I know you'll be a great dad and husband, I just wish you guys had time to yourselves before having a family"

"We'll make it work"

"I know you will"

_Year four_

Daichi ultimately had twins one boy and one girl, that year he also had the clan symbol added to his body, with his wife deciding that like Clair's husband she too would have the mark put on her, but only after her twins were done breastfeeding

"So we're all one family"

"Yes, a small one perhaps, but family, family that might grow over the years, but for now I have to get back to tactical"

"You're the one who decided to have a family Clair"

"Don't go there John you wanted a child just as much as I did, didn't realize it would happen while I was recovering from my torture"

"Speaking of, have you heard from the weapons department yet?"

"Nope, but hopefully soon I'll have a semblance of sight again"

_Year five_

Clair started to become active again in the fight, not completely since she still had a very young child but she did a few minor scout missions to check and see that it was safe to go above ground to do some damage

"So how does it feel to be even partially active again in more than just paperwork?"

"Good, but all I'm going to do until she's older"

"What about if we have anymore kids?"

"Not yet John, I don't want to think about that just yet"

"Sorry love but you're going to have to think about that"

"Why's that?"

"Remember that doctor's visit I insisted on?"

"What of it?"

"Don't know why he told me and not you but you're pregnant again"

"But..."

"I know we used precautions but I guess they failed"

"Fine but this is the last one until further notice"

"Agreed"

_Year six_

Their son would indeed be the last of their kids, Clair almost dies giving birth to her son and an emergency hysterectomy is done to save her life, but it means that unless she goes the same path as her father she would have no more kids

"So hormones are going to be whacked until further notice because of the surgery"

"No kidding, but at least you're both relatively healthy and that's all a guy could ever want"

"Relatively?"

"Well you almost died, as for our son...he has pneumonia but the doctors feel it's mild enough that he's not in any serious danger"

"Good"

_Year seven_

Daichi had another set of twins and his wife also had to have surgery done, but this surgery didn't prevent family in the future but they both decided that two twins were enough for the moment, they also started to grow as a city due to more refugees finding them, plus Daichi finally found out that his and Clair's Cybertronian family  _were_  alive and fighting in their own way, but both sides decided to remain separate for safety

"At least we'll be able to talk to them securely"

"True, I just miss them is all"

"I know sis I miss them too even though I didn't know them nearly as long as you did"

_Year eight_

The resistance started to do real damage but they were also hindered a lot as well, but they persevered knowing the ultimate goal in sight

"So how about we celebrate eight years of survival"

"No if we get to ten years we'll celebrate then but for now we keep doing what we're doing"

"But Clair..."

"No, we're still no closer to being free and we've been expanding so much that we're going to have to start building soon and that could attract unwanted attention"

"We'll be careful if we have to build"

"But will it be careful enough?"

"We'll just have to find out"

_Year nine_

The group ultimately did have to do more building and they had a few close calls but fortunately they succeeded in the mission

"We're ready for more refugees if we get any"

"Yes, but first is anyone else wondering when that new group will snap at our leader?"

"Nope, even Clair is waiting for the bomb to drop but for now she deals with them in as calm a manner as possible"

"When it drops it's going to drop hard and Clair will have to reveal things that she doesn't want to reveal I think"

"All we can do is wait and hope"

_Year ten_

The entire rebellion holds a ten year anniversary knowing how hard it was to reach this point, but the recent group that everyone was waiting to blow finally blew at the party because of what had happened earlier that day while preparing for said party

"You led my team into danger Kerenai-Masaki!"

"I didn't see the group"

"How could you not see them? They were right there in front of you! I lost three men today, if they're alive they're lucky but as of now they're POW's"

"My eyes haven't worked in ten years, the enemy made me blind early in the war when they captured me"

"You lie"

"Do I?"

Clair takes off her sunglasses, which hid the fact that she no longer actually had eyes, back when the enemy made her blind they first managed to sever the optic nerves in her eyes, however the enemy wasn't sure if Clair had a way to repair that damage and as such the enemy, while she was awake deliberately took her eyes out of her eye sockets to ensure she never saw again

"Tell me again that I lie I dare you, these glasses only help give me a general idea of my surroundings and the range is pretty limited, basically anything further than five feet and I only have a vague idea that there's terrain, actual people are a lost cause"

"Sorry"

"I know you're upset, but for now we'll celebrate ten years of survival and get to planning your team's rescue immediately tomorrow"

"Fine"

The captured men were ultimately rescued alive, with new scars physically and mentally but alive

_Year eleven_

The group actually manages to take a stronghold back from the enemy, the old EDC base and it's immediate surroundings

"Wow, this place could use some cleaning"

"Yes, it hasn't been used in eleven years, now that we have the base, as long as we can keep it we can make more offensive moves based from here, but we'll need a permanent team to man it, small at first but growing as time goes by"

"Works for us"

_Year twelve_

Clair and Daichi both moved their families to the EDC base above ground with Clair leaving someone dependable in charge of the underground city

*They'll be fine Clair...say what do you think about adding some of our Cybertronian family into the mix here at base?*

*I'm fine with it, but others might not be, plus they themselves might not be able to due to safety*

*We could at least ask*

*True it never hurts to ask*

_Year thirteen_

Clair and Daichi were disappointed to find out that their robotic family wouldn't join them, but they did start collaborating on missions at least

"So another robot mission or solo this time?"

"Strictly human this time guys, but you have to admit things have improved since they started occasionally joining us"

"True, but for now what's the mission?"

"Here"

Clair gives the team the mission and they head out

_Year fourteen_

That year was bad, they lost several resistance members and almost lost the EDC base a few times, but fortunately by the end of the year they were in a stable if tenuous position which they hoped to improve soon enough

_Year fifteen_

The resistance officially gained the Cybertronians as their allies and they started making great strides towards actually freeing Earth, but they knew it was still a long way off, but any progress was a victory in their mind, even if by the end of the year they had only gained half of the fifty United States and also started freeing Canada

_Year sixteen_

The resistance manages to free the rest of the United States and Canada and also manages to free all of Mexico, Central America and makes good progress on South America, with resistance members from those areas joining together to start thinking about the other half of the world, even if they knew it would take time. Due to this they adopted English as the standard resistance language to make communication easier, even if they still needed translators and repetitiveness if they weren't understood initially

_Year seventeen_

The resistance keeps their hold on the one half of the world and starts to go after the enemy in the other part of the world, taking Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Ireland, but they then hit a roadblock which stumps them for the rest of the year

_Year eighteen_

The group manages to free the rest of Europe, all of Africa and the Middle East, but gets stopped while trying to free Russia and Asia, but they know that they'll get there eventually

"So what do we try first?"

"Russia, then Asia, but if we can free even part of Asia at the same time we're freeing Russia then go for it"

"Will do"

_Year nineteen_

The resistance frees Russia and it takes almost all year, but fortunately they also get the chance to free most of Asia while trying to free Russia, unfortunately they fail to free Japan since there and the United States were where the strongest presence of the enemy was due to the Kerenai-Masaki's

"So Japan is finally up"

"Yes, hopefully it won't take us forever to free Japan like it took the United States"

"Agreed, let's hope so"

_Year twenty_

It would take six months to free Japan but finally after almost twenty years of oppression the entire world was free once more. The world slowly started to heal physically and economically, and the Cybertronians were a huge part of that healing process, but it would take a whole generation for improvement to be noticed and another to allow the world to be declared healed. It helped that the world and military leaders had all thought ahead of time

_A few years ago_

"So it turns out that POTUS aka the Commander-in-Chief, aka the President was sneaky along with his military leaders, the armed forces of the United States is functional still, they've been underground the entire time, and if the rest of the world leaders and their military commanders did the same then they too have their military still going if in secret like ours was"

_Epilogue_

"Mom is this story true?"

"Yes sweetie it's true, as you can see all her descendants have the tattoo like agreed back when this first started, and Masaki adopted another child as well and they too have the clan symbol, though they keep theirs hidden due to security risks in their jobs"

The mother was showing the tattoo to their son and daughter who were old enough in the States to get the tattoo, but as per tradition the story behind the tattoo and the first Kerenai-Masaki to get it was told before the decision was made whether to have it at eighteen or twenty depending on if they were living in the States or Japan, and even if they weren't they were still allowed to choose one of those two ages

"Is it also why we learn Japanese at a young age?"

"Yes, some of your family are actually Japanese and remain in Japan, think of them as distant cousins who don't want to travel, even for family reunions"

"Mom why do some of our family have jobs that force them to hide the clan symbol?"

"Because that's simply who this family is, I decided to go into a job where I don't have to hide the clan symbol if I don't want to, but at the same time there are others who choose such dangerous jobs to protect those in the family that won't for whatever reason"

The kids go to bed promising to honestly think about whether they wanted the tattoo at eighteen or to wait until twenty meanwhile the mother was looking at an old family photo

"I wish you were here to see them"

Her husband (who was also allowed the tattoo through marriage like all those who married into the clan if they so chose) walks in and hears the comment

"In a way so do I but she lived a good long life and honestly shocked everyone that she lived long enough for her great-great-great-great grandchildren to be born"

"But you know as well as I do part of that was due to her being frozen for twenty years while a special cure was developed for a rare disease and she volunteered to be put to sleep for study"

"True, but she still lived a good long life because of her abilities"

"I know I just miss her at times, she was the last true connection to both sides of the family"

"I know, but she's in the history books of the EDC at the very least and the Cybertronians are still around, though none but the family know where they currently are or how close we're still actually connected"

"True, they only think we're connected still through the tattoo not knowing the truth"

"So same tradition as always"

"Yep, once they've made their decision it's time for them to meet their Cybertronian family members"

A few days later the kids made the decision to get the family tattoo at both eighteen and twenty respectively deciding to honor both countries that ways in regards to legal age and then also met the Cybertronian part of their family in secret because that was the way it had to be since Clair's death, for the protection of Earth they could only reveal themselves at need due to just how dangerous some of their enemies could be and while Earth had recovered for the most part it was the Cybertronians who had made the decision to keep them out of it if at all possible as a way of honoring the deep friendship of the first humans they met and also a way of honoring their adopted daughter and her adopted brother as well who stood by them until the very end, if not physically than politically at need


End file.
